Joe Biden is on Nantucket, wrapping up his final Thanksgiving holiday as president
Joe Biden is wrapping up his final Thanksgiving holiday as president on Nantucket, a family tradition that this year seems to be part of a broader farewell to his time in the White House.
The Democrat’s four years as president will be bookended by Republican Donald Trump, whose Cabinet nominations, tariff threats and glitzy evenings at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida club, have captured the public’s attention since the November election. Biden dropped out of the presidential contest in July and was replaced on the ticket by Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump.
During his five days on the Massachusetts island, with its picturesque wood shingle homes and sea-shelled beaches, the 82-year-old Biden was still dealing with questions of his legacy. He planned to return to Washington later Saturday, then leave for Angola the next day for his only visit to Africa as president.
On Friday, as Biden and his family walked along the quaint brick sidewalks and cobblestone streets that have made Nantucket a wealthy and desirable summer vacation spot, passersby shouted “We love you, Joe.” The Biden contingent included the president’s daughter, Ashley, and son, Hunter, as well as Hunter’s 4-year-old son, Beau.
Over the past year, Biden has called Trump’s falsehoods about the government’s hurricane relief “un-American” and repeatedly warned that the incoming president could undermine U.S. democracy and foreign alliances.
But when asked by reporters on Thanksgiving Day what he was thankful for, Biden said: “I’m thankful for a peaceful transition of the presidency.”
Biden also said he was thankful for his family, the new cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon and the potential for more progress in the Middle East.
