"Trump flees Washington controversies for golf-heavy trip to Scotland," blares CNN. Notice the language here—"fleeing" Washington's "oppressive humidity and nonstop questions over heated controversies."
When Republican presidents travel, they're "absent," "fleeing," or engaging in "tone-deaf" escapes. But where was this media curiosity about Joe Biden's unprecedented travel patterns during his presidency?
Trump "Fleeing" vs. Biden "Working From Home"
The facts are stark. Biden made more than 100 trips to Delaware during his presidency, spending more than a quarter of his time away from the White House. That's more than any recent president, including Trump and Obama combined. Of his first 29 weekends as president, Biden spent just six at the White House.
Yet where were the breathless headlines about Biden "fleeing" Washington? Where was the hand-wringing about a president seeking "refuge" from his duties? The coverage was notably different—Biden was described as "working from home" or taking well-deserved breaks to his "hometown." The same media outlets that now describe Trump as "fleeing" portrayed Biden's frequent Delaware trips as charming returns to his roots.
You see this pattern everywhere. Remember the media's brutal coverage of George W. Bush during Hurricane Katrina? He was crucified for waiting two days to cut his vacation short—headlines screamed about an "absent" president who "doesn't care about black people." Yet when Obama stayed on vacation during the devastating Louisiana floods of 2016, continuing to golf at Martha's Vineyard while at least 13 people died and 85,000 registered for disaster aid, the mainstream media was largely silent.
Curiosity vs. Cover-Up
It gets worse when you consider what we now know about Biden's condition during those Delaware trips. The recently published book "Original Sin" by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson reveals the extent to which Biden's cognitive decline was systematically hidden from the public throughout his presidency. Based on interviews with more than 200 sources, the book documents how Biden's inner circle actively concealed his "plummeting cognitive abilities" from 2021 through 2024.
This raises uncomfortable questions about those Delaware trips. Were they simply presidential preferences, or were they part of a broader strategy to limit Biden's public exposure during periods of decline? The book reveals that beginning in fall 2023, there were "two Bidens"—a functioning Biden and a non-functioning Biden—and that his schedule became "much tighter and more restricted" to ensure "the public and other aides did not see non-functioning Biden."
The media's role in this systematic deception is particularly troubling. The same journalists who are perfectly willing to talk about Biden's decline spent four years providing remarkably gentle coverage of his frequent absences from Washington. CNN, for instance, ran soft features about Biden's "weekend ritual" and his need to stay "grounded" through family time in Delaware. No one asked hard questions about transparency when Biden refused to provide visitor logs for his Delaware properties, despite spending nearly 200 days there during his presidency.
The cost to taxpayers was substantial—an estimated $11 million just in flight costs for Biden's Delaware trips by late 2022. Yet coverage focused on the president's "authentic" connection to his roots rather than questions about accountability or transparency. Compare this to the immediate focus on costs and optics whenever Trump travels to his properties.
These Trips Should Be Covered—Equally
Look, this isn't about defending Trump's travel habits or attacking Biden's. Questions about presidential priorities during crises are fair game for any president. If you want to scrutinize Trump's Scotland trip during the Epstein controversy, fine. But then you should have questioned Biden's beach time during Afghanistan, the border crisis, or inflation spikes.
The problem is simple: it's different rules for different parties. It follows a predictable pattern: Republican presidents are portrayed as callous or disconnected when they travel, while Democratic presidents are humanized and defended. The language choices alone reveal the bias. Trump is "fleeing" while Biden was "working from home." It's "tone-deaf" versus "well-deserved breaks."
Here's what bothers me most: the media knew. They had sources who understood what was really happening with Biden's travel and restricted schedule. Cabinet members were telling reporters as early as 2021 that Biden's meetings were "disturbing and frustrating." Yet instead of asking harder questions, journalists participated in what Thompson and Tapper now acknowledge was a "cover-up."
The revelation that Biden didn't recognize George Clooney at a June 2024 fundraiser—a man he'd known for decades—is stunning. But equally stunning is that the journalists who knew about these incidents chose to write puff pieces about Biden's "authentic" Delaware retreats instead of asking why the president needed such careful management of his public appearances.
This is about media credibility. When journalists help cover up a president's condition—whether through active deception or willful blindness—they're not doing their jobs.
Why It's Wrong
The current Trump coverage isn't wrong because it's critical. It's wrong because these same standards didn't apply to Biden. Presidential travel amid controversy should get scrutiny. All presidential travel amid controversy. If voters deserve transparency about their president's condition and capabilities, they deserve it regardless of whether the president has a D or an R after his name.
The media's credibility crisis is playing out in real time through these glaring double standards. Until journalists acknowledge their own role in the systematic deception around Biden's condition and commit to applying consistent standards across party lines, they'll continue to earn the public's distrust.
Americans need media that ask hard questions of everyone, not just Republicans. They need consistent standards and honest reporting. Until journalists acknowledge their role in covering up Biden's condition and commit to applying the same standards to both parties, they'll keep losing public trust. Until that happens, incidents like the Biden cover-up will continue to erode trust in both our media and our democratic institutions.
Editor's Note: The mainstream media continues to deflect, gaslight, spin, and lie.
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