Lawmakers discuss Biden's use of taxpayer-funded travel to fly to Delaware and vote
Lawmakers discuss with Fox News Digital President Biden's recent flight to Delaware to vote on the taxpayer's dime.
President Biden traveled from his home state of Delaware to the White House Friday afternoon, and is scheduled to turn around and head back to Delaware later this evening, according to his public schedule.
The president, who flew to Delaware Thursday, participated in a town hall with veterans at the Major Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III National Guard/Reserve Center near New Castle. Then he took Air Force One to Washington, D.C., for "internal meetings and more holiday receptions," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Thursday.
At 8:55 p.m., the president will fly back to Delaware for the weekend.
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Biden on Friday added that he had to "go back quickly today to sign a few piece of legislation." He also suggested he would be attending a White House reception where "1,200 people showing up."
President Biden arrives via Air Force One at Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Delaware, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
These back-and-forth flights on Air Force One are racking up a hefty bill for taxpayers. Biden's trips home to Delaware and back to Washington have cost at least $11 million since he took office in January 2021, a Fox News Digital analysis conducted by former CBS correspondent Mark Knoller found.
As of Nov. 18, Biden has made 57 trips to Delaware, spanning all or part of 185 days. The trips require taxpayer dollars to fund costs associated with the use of either Air Force One or Marine One, as well as security costs for the Secret Service. The president spends time in Delaware at his homes in Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach.
President Biden boards Air Force One at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale, Arizona, on Dec. 6, 2022. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
The SUV carrying President Biden is seen under a setting sun after Biden arrived at Gordons Pond in Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes, Delaware, on Oct. 21, 2022. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
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The analysis found Biden has made at least 101 flights between the White House or Joint Base Andrews and Delaware — 71 flights using Marine One and 30 using Air Force One.
As a senator from 1973 to 2009, Biden would take Amtrak from Delaware to Washington, D.C., every day that the Senate was in session — a habit that earned him the nickname "Amtrak Joe." He claims his travel included 8,200 round trips and more than 2 million miles. The ticket for much of that time from Delaware to Washington and back was less than $100.
However, as president, Biden's predilection for spending as much time in Delaware as possible is costing taxpayers well more than $200,000 roundtrip.
Former President Trump faced criticism for his regular, expensive travel to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, and his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Knoller’s data show that Biden travels home more often, though the hop from Washington to Delaware is shorter than Trump's trips to Florida or New Jersey.
Saturday will mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Biden's first wife, Neilia, and baby daughter, Naomi, who perished in a car accident on Dec. 18, 1972. Biden often visits the graves of his family members when he returns home, including on the anniversary of their deaths.
Fox News' Patrick Hauf contributed tot his report.
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