White House Officials Describe ‘Total Vacuum’ of Leadership Caused by Biden’s Post-Election Silence: ‘Feels Like Trump Is President Already’

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White House officials describe a “total vacuum” of leadership from President Joe Biden in the wake of the 2024 election.

In a Monday report. Politico spoke with nearly two dozen officials about party morale as a result of Biden’s relative silence. As noted in the report, the president “spoke just seven words to the media traveling with him” in the two weeks since the election. It added:

He has yet to schedule a post-election press conference, as Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush did when they were on their way out of office. He went to the Rose Garden to publicly praise a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and spoke to the press Sunday about Bashar Al-Assad fleeing Syria, but otherwise his post-election domestic schedule has been filled with events such as honoring the 2024 NBA champions, thanking longtime supporters at a South Lawn dinner and participating in a Friendsgiving event.

According to multiple Biden aides, his silence is rooted in “Biden’s own recognition that few are eager to hear from him.” They also believe that Biden “doesn’t owe much more to a party that unceremoniously pushed him aside” after his first and only debate with President-elect Donald Trump.

As a result, his return to a more prominent role within the party isn’t something that many want.

“In conversations that I’m having, they don’t even mention the president. It’s kind of sad,” said a Democrat close to senior lawmakers. “It feels like Trump is president already.”