REHOBOTH BEACH, Delaware — Almost as soon as Donald Trump officially received a new federal indictment, Joe Biden was ready to go nuclear.
Before he could catch a 6:30 p.m. flight for a screening of Oppenheimer, a hit summer movie about the development of the first atomic bomb, the president and first lady settled in for a quick and early dinner Tuesday night. the night.
As special counsel Jack Smith addressed the nation, accusing the former president of trying to steal the election from the current president, Biden sat across from his wife at a booth at a local seafood restaurant waiting for his entrees.
The summer vacation has at times led to unwanted split screens for Biden and his predecessors, as unforeseen events demand the attention of a president just as they expected to step out of the spotlight.
But either inadvertently or by design, Biden’s vacation schedule—bike rides, walks on the beach, and, yes, even a date night—has served to illustrate what the White House has repeatedly said: Biden is very away from the process that is being carried out by a Department of Justice that it technically oversees.
Aides knew full well that as the Bidens were about to leave their seaside retreat for what would be an hour-long night out, another Trump impeachment was imminent.
His motorcade left his seaside vacation home at 5:26 p.m. Tuesday and was driving on Delaware Route 1 when Smith’s office issued a press release stating that Trump “attempted to obstruct and impede in a manner corrupted” the electoral vote count, making Biden’s victory official.
The Biden campaign and his White House quickly issued “no comment.” But, as the first couple dined at Matt’s Fish Camp, which describes itself as “a laid-back seafood place” offering local dishes like its famous Lobster Cobb Salad, the Trump campaign issued its searing response: “Anarchy of these persecutions of President Trump and his supporters is reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930s.”
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From there, I was on my way to Movies at the Midway for the 6:30 screening of Oppenheimer. From the seventh row, among a couple dozen other moviegoers, Biden watched the three-hour movie that offered no complete escape from his day job. Beyond the weighty topic, the settings included (spoiler alert!) the Oval Office, as well as a confirmation hearing with senators such as Warren Magnuson and Gale McGee, whom Biden called colleagues years after the scenes were enacted.
“It was compelling,” Biden told reporters after leaving the Movies at Midway theater.
That was one of the few issues Biden chose to comment on this week. On Wednesday, after hanging out at the beach on a bright summer day, he, too, offered this: “It’s hard to complain about this weather.”
Biden’s advisers have long felt that an underappreciated part of his political appeal in 2020 was a contrast to Trump that went well beyond politics and party. They argue that this contrast in style will work in 2024 as well: as Trump continues his wrecking-ball approach to domestic politics, Biden has been on his head, more often behind the scenes and focused on implementing his agenda.
Last week, a fellow Democrat put it another waysaying Biden was targeting “normal” Americans while many in Washington were toying with “weirds.”
The split screens continued on Thursday. While the media captured every moment of Trump’s trip to Washington for his arraignment, the only real glimpse of the sitting president was another early-morning bike ride.
The two spent Saturday afternoon in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
When the 45th president of the United States appeared in public view on Thursday, he was wearing a dark suit and his trademark bright red tie. The 46th president was previously seen sporting a helmet, aviator sunglasses, and a turtle-studded bathing suit.
A reporter in the press pool asked Biden if he would stop to answer questions on the momentous day. Biden replied dryly: “Probably not.”
And the contrasts were not limited to the two leaders themselves. While Trump’s social media was full of attacks on Biden and the legal fight, Biden’s presidential Twitter account included posts about Bidenomics and the United States assuming the presidency of the United Nations Security Council. His campaign account offered a more subtle trolling of a video of the president sipping from a “Dark Brandon” mug, a beloved meme Democrat, co-opted from what was originally a Republican slur, representing a edgier alter ego of Biden with red lasers.
“I like my coffee dark,” Biden says in the video.
Not long after, just before 2 p.m., the White House called a limit: Biden would not be seen for the rest of the day.
This story first appeared in nbcnews.com.
