BOLTIN' JOE GETS SAVED BY THE JILL
Q&A cut short before Del. trip
President Biden loaded up first cat Willow for yet another long weekend in Delaware on Friday, as First Lady Jill Biden cut short her husband’s replies to questions on what most Americans are struggling with — record-high gas prices and soaring inflation.
An aide carried the tabby in a crate across the White House’s South Lawn to the waiting Marine One helicopter. Journalists did not see the first dog, Commander.
Biden took a few reporters’ questions, including ones about rising prices, before joining Willow and Jill for the trip to his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach.
The president again blamed oil companies for high gas prices, but his response was cut short when the first lady intervened and said, “We gotta go!”
“Based on what a barrel of oil costs on average, it should not be this high,” the president told reporters on the lawn. “They’re making exorbitant profits, number one. No. 2, I’ve contacted them, my team has, to ask what their plans are and to give any suggestions they have.
“There are 9,000 leases — 9,000 — that they can drill . . . but they’re not doing it. No. 3, I think we’re going to be in a position where we’re gonna — ” he added until the first lady intervened.
Still, he proceeded to take a final question about when he planned to visit India, saying he would at some point.
Biden’s hideaways
The Bidens are expected to return to the White House on Monday, when the federal government will be partially closed for the Juneteenth holiday, which technically falls on Sunday. The weekend coincides with the first couple’s wedding anniversary.
The president has been criticized for regular weekend jaunts to his Delaware homes, with critics calling them vacations.
Biden spent about a quarter of his first year as president in his home state, where he owns two residences, but little is known about who stopped by for official meetings or less formal lobbying attempts during those trips.
The Secret Service claimed to The Post in April that it had no records of visitors to Biden’s Delaware residences.
In response to other questions on the South Lawn on Friday, Biden discouraged US citizens from traveling to Ukraine to help fight Russia’s invasion and defended his decision to visit Saudi Arabia, where he is slated to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman next month.
“I’m not going to meet with
MBS,” Biden said, referring to the prince by his initials. “I’m going to an international meeting, and he’s going to be part of it.”
The US intelligence community has said the prince ordered the operation that killed Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Saudi officials have denied the allegation.
Asked about reports that three US citizens were missing in Ukraine, with two feared captured by Russians, Biden said he had been “briefed” on the situation but “we don’t know where they are.”
“But I want to reiterate” he added, “Americans should not be going to Ukraine now.”
‘Really, really down’
Inflation and high fuel prices have contributed to dismal approval ratings for Biden, and Republicans are seeking to harness public frustration ahead of the November midterm elections.
Biden on Thursday gave his first on-the-record press interview in four months and acknowledged that Americans are “really, really down.”
A USA Today/Suffolk University poll released Friday found that 39% of Americans approve of Biden’s performance as president.
Almost half of respondents, 47%, said they “strongly” disapproved of his performance, while just 16% “strongly” approved.
Meanwhile, the annual US inflation rate hit a 40-year high of 8.6% in May.
According to AAA, the cost of diesel hit a new all-time high of about $5.80 per gallon on Friday. The average cost of regular unleaded gas hit an all-time high on Tuesday at more than $5 per gallon.