When a mother has one of her children on trial for serious felony charges, she is going to want to be in that courtroom, watching things unfold and offering what emotional support she can to her child. That's what parents do, no matter how old they are or how old their child is. You never stop being a parent. So, Jill Biden making time to sit in the courtroom while her son Hunter faces felony charges - that's understandable.
What is not understandable is why the United States taxpayers should be footing the bill for her traveling back and forth from France to Delaware to attend the trial. To that end, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) has made a farcical move, pronouncing that all is well because they will reimburse the White House for the travel. That is, to the tune of one first-class international airline seat.
The Democratic Party is planning to reimburse for the first lady's extensive transatlantic travel to attend her son's trial — but the majority of costs will likely fall on taxpayers.
First Lady Jill Biden has been traveling back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean as she tends to official duties in France while also appearing at the trial of her son, Hunter Biden.
"In accordance with relevant regulations utilized across administrations, the government is reimbursed the value of a first-class fare for these flights to Wilmington and back to Paris," the first lady's office reportedly told DailyMail.com in a statement.
The Democratic National Committee will provide the funds to reimburse for the first lady's flights, the Daily Mail reported.
The first thought this provokes: "Are you freaking kidding me?"
Jill Biden was flying back and forth on one of the highly modified Boeing 747s that serves as Air Force One, although it only carries that call sign when the President is on board. Those airplanes, we have it on good authority, cost $206,000 per hour to operate.
Just for spits and giggles, take a quick look at first-class tickets from Washington-Dulles to Charles de Gaulle in Paris. A quick look at a popular travel booking site gives us some interesting numbers, ranging from $4,855 to $5,060.
That's what the DNC is reimbursing. What a joke.
Previously on RedState: Jill Biden's Flights Back and Forth to France to Attend Hunter's Trial Raise a Lot of Questions
There's just no reason for this. Jill Biden is a private citizen; there's no reason she had to be in France at all, other than to make sure doddering old Joe turns the right way when leaving the stage, to hold his hand, to sit down when he's supposed to and probably to make sure he gets his pudding cup before his afternoon nap. If she was that concerned about Hunter's trial, and charitably, it's certain she was, then she damn well should have stayed in Delaware to attend it.
Instead, once again, the U.S. taxpayers are getting a drubbing.
And what about the carbon footprint? Back in 2021, President Biden was blasted for the carbon footprint of one trip he took to Scotland - to attend a "climate summit," of all things - the carbon emissions for which were estimated at 2.2 million pounds.
Now, granted: We're the United States of America, for crying out loud. Our president and his wife aren't flying commercially. We're the big kids on the block; even in our current state we still hit harder, pee farther, jump higher, and run faster than all the crumbling nations of Europe, all of which combined don't give us room to park our trucks. We have Air Force One and the presidential fleet because we're America, dammit, and no further reason is needed.
But as far as the DNC covering this with this spit-into-a-hurricane farce of a "reimbursement," we can only say to the DNC, as an old business partner of mine was fond of saying, "Don't p**s down our backs and tell us it's raining."
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