Hugs, backslapping, and a generous side portion of dewy-eyed reminiscing. All that and more will be on the menu Tuesday when former President Barack Obama visits the White House for lunch with President Joe Biden ahead of an event touting the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obama care.
“They are real friends, not just Washington friends,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki confided at Monday’s briefing as she detailed the planned event.
Biden and Obama are joining over a meal to mark the 12th anniversary of the law that back in 2010 the then-vice president had memorably called a “big (expletive) deal.” Vice President Kamala Harris will also be there to offer her applause.
Psaki, who worked for both Democratic administrations, said the men would dine together before an afternoon gathering in the White House Rose Garden to outline what they regard as one of the Obama administrations singular legislative achievements, as Breitbart News reported.
“I’ll also note that as they did every week when former President Obama was president and President Biden was vice president – that’s a mouthful – they will have lunch tomorrow as well, as they used to do on a weekly basis,” Psaki said.
Psaki said the two men talked by phone often so the head-to-head over lunch will simply be a continuation of their ongoing relationship.
“I’m not going to give you the number of times they’ve had conversations, but I would note they consult on a range of issues, but also about their families and things happening in their personal lives,” Psaki said, before saying the two held a bond of deep affection for each other.
“And, you know, it’s not a relationship of obligation,” she continued. “It’s one where they developed a deep and close friendship through the course of their time serving together and that has continued.”
File/U.S. President Barack Obama (R) and Vice President Joseph Biden (L) share a hug during a statement on the election results at the Rose Garden of the White House November 9, 2016 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
As to why Obama – who still maintains a residence in Washington, DC, – hadn’t been invited to the White House sooner, Psaki pointed to Biden having been in office just 15 months.
She said Tuesday marked the “right time” for the 44th president to return because the ACA was one of the “proudest accomplishments that they worked on together.”
Psaki finished by hailing the ACA as an example of Democrat political achievement.
“President Biden and former President Obama both see the Affordable Care Act as an example – a shining example – of how government can work for the American people.”
While Obama might not be a regular visitor to the White House, that does not mean his influence on the current administration is in any way diminished.
Obama sees the Biden administration as simply a linear progression of his own.
As Breitbart News reported, Obama said in an interview published last year his former vice president was finishing the work he began to redistribute wealth through programs like Obamacare.
“I think that what we’re seeing now, is Joe and the administration are essentially finishing the job,” he said in an interview with New York Times columnist Ezra Klein. “And I think it’ll be an interesting test. Ninety percent of the folks who were there in my administration, they are continuing and building on the policies we talked about…”
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