President Joe Biden shunned fellow world leaders Tuesday night and skipped a NATO leadership dinner, with the White House citing the president’s workload for retiring early to his hotel in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Biden, who has only been in Europe since Sunday night and spent at day on the beach relaxing before departure, had Secretary of State Antony Blinken attend in his place.
This is the third time that the 80-year-old has skipped a dinner with world leaders while on an international trip, Fox News reported.
When the White House was asked for a comment on Biden’s absence it did not initially respond, the report added.
The White House later clarified Biden said no to the NATO dinner because he has four full days of work ahead of him and will be delivering a speech that needed his prior attention.
The president’s snub came after he told Turkish President Recep Erdogan he would win re-election in 2024 and would be working with him for the next five years, the Daily Mail reports.
U.S. President Joe Biden (R) and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hold bilateral talks the NATO Summit in Vilnius on July 11, 2023. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
Despite mounting concerns about his health and age, the octogenarian reportedly expressed confidence about his chances in 2024.
Biden would be 86 by the end of his second term and already opponents are questioning his workload and ability to fully discharge his duties.
As Breitbart News reported, according to statistics complied by RNC Research, the president has reportedly spent 353 days — 39.2 percent of his presidency — disappearing on vacation.
His favorite place of respite is on the sand near his holiday home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
The most recent statistics on Biden’s absence from the White House follow other revelations about his work-shy manner.
In August 2022 Biden was recorded as having spent a record 150 days at home in Delaware in the 18 months since he was elected president, as Breitbart News reported.
The year before that he was reportedly ensconced at Camp David as the world watched Kabul, Afghanistan fall to the Taliban and mass evacuations began.
Former President Donald Trump spent 132 days away from the White House at his own properties, either at Mar-a-Lago in the winter or Bedminster, New Jersey in the summer while ex-President Barack Obama only spent 38 days of his presidency either at rental properties in Hawaii or Martha’s Vineyard.
Former President George W. Bush went home to his Texas ranch 100 days during his entire tenure in the presidency.
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