Unpopular Biden shunned from speaking engagements
Joe Biden is being shunned from lucrative engagements on the public speaking circuit, a report claims.
Instead of travelling on private jets and speaking at glitzy awards shows, Mr Biden is spending his post-presidency years talking aloud in the train’s quiet carriage, collecting takeaway meals from his favourite diner, and browsing the aisles of menswear shops.
Companies have become reluctant to hire the former president as a paid speaker in fear it may spark backlash from Donald Trump, who has not shied away from lambasting businesses that platform his opponents, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.
There is also concern over Mr Biden’s health, capacity to give coherent speeches, and dwindling popularity in Democratic circles, who now view him as a liability to his own party amid rumours the former president’s declining cognitive state was covered up by the White House.
Since leaving office, Mr Biden has been beset with financial headaches. According to the WSJ, he reportedly confided in someone that he intended to pay off around $800,000 in personal debt he had accumulated.
The Bidens have also been hit with a 20 per cent increase in their property taxes on their Delaware beach home this year, public records show.
Joe Biden and his wife Jill on May 30. Mr Biden is reportedly facing financial difficulties – Ken Cedeno/REUTERS
Then there are the bills for Hunter Biden’s legal woes. The former first son, who was pardoned by his father, told a judge earlier this year he was “millions of dollars in debt”.
Like his father, paid speaking gigs are rare. “I was expecting to obtain paid speaking engagements and paid appearances, but that has not happened,” he wrote in court filings.
Allegations of Mr Biden’s declining health have not helped either.
Earlier this year, a book made extraordinary claims that he had struggled to recognise friends or aides at times during his four years in office.
The details appear to have derailed post-presidential plans to cement his legacy with a library, and to cash in with a memoir. Mr Biden was reportedly offered a $10m advance for his book, millions less than his predecessors, according to the New York Post.
Donors are reportedly lukewarm on supporting his library and a slew of strategists previously told The Telegraph that Mr Biden has become a political liability ahead of crucial midterm elections next year, suggesting Democrats and big names vying for votes next November are steering well clear of him at public events.
“The best thing he can do is stay home and let a new generation move forward,” a strategist said in May.
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