In the modern age, U.S. presidents can generally expect not to have to worry about money anymore once they leave the White House. They enjoy fat speaking fees, honorary gigs, and generous payments for their memoirs. But that rule may not be holding for the most recent ex-occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue: Multiple reports make clear that Joe Biden has had a different kind of experience over the past eight months.
Rich people just don’t want to pony up for Diamond Joe right now. The Wall Street Journal reports that he is not being offered corporate sinecures thanks to his age and his clear cognitive decline in the last months of his presidency. He still commands a decent speaking fee, ranging from $300,000 to $500,000, but the requests are few and far between — and those booking Biden are even trying to haggle below those numbers.
As the other former presidents celebrated the Fourth of July on lavish estates, Biden spent his at a mobile-home park. It was an extremely nice trailer in Malibu owned by Hunter Biden’s friend the singer Moby, but it was hardly the Hamptons. And if you’re taking the Amtrak along the Eastern Seaboard, you might spot Biden where the Journal reports the longtime Amtrak booster is breaking the quiet car’s only rule.
There may be an unexpected benefit to these travel woes: You can’t be an ex-president caught on unsavory flight logs if you’re never invited on a private jet. But the cold shoulder Biden is receiving from donors could hurt his already diminished legacy. For instance, NBC News reports that no one wants to donate to build a Biden library. “I don’t believe a library will ever be built unless it’s a bookmobile from the old days,” said John Morgan, a lawyer in Florida who donated $800,000 to the Biden campaign last year. Another bundler was more succinct when asked if they would donate: “Me? No way.”
And though Biden’s lifestyle doesn’t sound particularly expensive, he has significant financial obligations. The Journal reports that Biden is trying to help his kids, paying legal bills for Hunter and aiding his recently divorced daughter, Ashley. Plus, there’s the $800,000 in debt on his Delaware home, not including a 20 percent increase in property taxes this year.