President Biden finally found a hole in his schedule.

It's been a full 67 days since eight Americans were taken hostage by Hamas terrorists during the October 7 massacre in Israel. Since that day, Biden has taken multiple trips to his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and even squeezed in a long Thanksgiving trip to Nantucket. 

Unlike vacationing, finding time to meet with the hostage families was clearly not a priority for the president. He came under fire recently for not inviting the families to a White House ceremony marking the season of Hanukkah, despite a request by the families to be included in the event. RedState's Bonchie reported, "A CNN segment revealed that some of the families reached out to the White House for permission to attend, presumably to garner a show of solidarity. Instead, the Biden administration ghosted them."

Not a great look.

Wednesday, at long last, the families got their wish to meet with the president, an occasion the White House made sure to blast out on social media:

I just sat down with the loved ones of Americans taken hostage by Hamas to hear their stories.

I reassured them that I will continue doing everything possible to secure the release of their family members.

And that we will not give up hope. pic.twitter.com/eZLrlW63LI

— President Biden (@POTUS) December 13, 2023

Here's who participated in the Wednesday meeting at the White House: 

The family members of eight Americans believed to be held hostage participated in the meeting in person. They included Yael and Adi Alexander; Ruby and Roy Chen; Ronen and Orna Neutra; Gillian Kaye; Jonathan Dekel-Chen; Aviva, Elan, Shir and Hanna Siegel; and Liz Naftali. Jon Polin, Rachel Goldberg and Iris Haggai joined by phone.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and deputy national security adviser Jon Finer also attended the meeting.

The families appeared on a prerecorded segment on Fox News Wednesday and told host Bret Baier what they intended to say to Biden when they met. Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35, said, "President Biden and the administration, as a whole, have been amazing partners in this struggle to get all of our loved ones back." He added, "Great efforts have been made. We ask that even greater ones be invested now. These are critical moments."

Ruby Chen, father of Itay, 19, added that the U.S. needs to pressure countries like Egypt and Qatar to get to the negotiation table in a coordinated international effort to get the remaining hostages released. 

Amazingly, Biden seems to be one of the last people in Washington to have met with the families. Speaker Mike Johnson invited them to Tuesday's Capitol Menorah Lighting, noting, "The Jewish people have faced unspeakable evil, especially over the last two months. The only way to drive out darkness is to overwhelm it with light."

And then there's Biden's fellow Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), who has been one of DC's staunchest supporters of Israel, as a whole, and the hostage families, in particular. He began meeting individually with the families immediately after October 7th and has vowed to keep his office plastered with the posters of the missing hostages until every one of them is released. 

The fact that it took Biden so long to make this meeting happen is disgraceful. Long gone are the days when we could count on our presidents to be the "nation's grandfather" and step up for American families during times of crisis.