Rising tensions in the Middle East, a disastrous tropical storm battering the East Coast, and a bad week on Wall Street.
Joe Biden doesn’t seem to be around to address any of those things.
Now speculation is running rampant as to the whereabouts of the President, and why he’s suddenly cancelling all of his scheduled events.
According to a Fox News report, Biden was briefly seen Monday walking from Marine One to the Oval Office, ignoring reporters’ questions.
He has not been seen publicly since.
A lack of public appearances has become the new normal for Biden since he dropped out of the 2024 race, allowing Vice President Kamala Harris to take the lead on the ticket.
But the lack of appearances is sparking curiosity as the administration is anticipating a possible attack by Iran on Israel.
When Fox News correspondent David Spunt asked why the American people have not heard directly from the president this week, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “We just put out two readouts today.”
“Can we expect to see him this week? Because I know you guys have been putting out the schedule. You know, we’ve been getting it the night before,” Spunt asked Jean-Pierre during Tuesday’s press briefing.
“So we are in a different time,” Jean-Pierre responded. “As I’ve said many times before, and you will get to see the president, that I can say. Look, it is certainly the president’s priority, to make sure that we do everything that we can, to protect our national security, right?”
Jean-Pierresaid Biden’s focus was to “de-escalate tensions,” adding that the two “readouts” released by the White House indicated that Biden spoke with the leaders of Jordan, Qatar and Egypt.
“From that readout that we just put out, I was asked about the cease-fire deal and what the president – that last line – that was pointed out to me. That is something that the president has been focused on – getting that done. I don’t have anything beyond what we put out, but we’re monitoring the situation closely,” Jean-Pierre said.
Most of the public statements from the White House about the impending situation have been coming from everyone except Biden, specifically Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
“It’s urgent that everyone in the region take stock of the situation, understand the risk of miscalculation, and make decisions that will calm tensions, not exacerbate them,” Blinken said at the close of a meeting with Australian leaders at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
Austin noted the attack Monday on U.S. forces in Iraq by an Iranian-backed militia group, which injured seven, and made it clear that the U.S. will not hesitate to respond.
“Make no mistake, the United States will not tolerate attacks on our personnel in the region,” Austin told reporters. “And we remain ready to deploy on short notice to meet the evolving threats to our security, our partners or our interests.”