SANTA YNEZ VALLEY, Calif. — Shrouded by vines and rolling hills in the heart of a private 8,000-acre ranch in Santa Barbara’s wine country, President Joe Biden last week sealed himself away from the public gaze.
Only weeks ago it seemed inconceivable that Biden would watch the balloons at the Democratic National Convention fall in celebration of someone else accepting the presidential nomination from a TV screen some 2,000 miles away.
His reaction to that moment — whatever it may have been — was firmly hidden.
The president has not spoken publicly or to the press since Monday night — after he gave an emotional speech, formally passing the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris — on the first night of the convention. With cease-fire talks for the war in Gaza resuming on Sunday, Biden’s low profile is notable.
With the talks threatened due to the worst escalation of violence between Israel and Hezbollah since the war began in October, Biden did not take questions from the press as he boarded Air Force One to Rehoboth Beach, Del.
Biden, did, however answer questions from reporters on the tarmac in Chicago on Monday night as he readied to board Air Force One for his vacation in Santa Ynez, just after he left the convention, and he has not been heard from since.
Biden usually makes public appearances during his vacations. Bike rides (sometimes ill-fated), spin classes, trips to the beach. But on his six-day visit to the Santa Ynez valley last week, he was seen just once as he attended Mass on Saturday afternoon.
In the foothills of the San Rafael Mountains, the secluded ranch where the first couple stayed, surrounded by children and grandchildren, is the home of Democratic megadonor Joe Kiani.
The press that traveled to California with the president was told by 10:30 a.m. on each of the first four days to stand down — that is, that there would be no public appearances.
When he attended Mass at the Old Mission Santa Inés in Solvang on Saturday, reporters were kept — outside of normal routine — to the back of the motorcade and the family entered the church before their arrival. When the president, alongside his children Hunter and Ashley, left the church, he did not offer reporters time for questions and headed straight to his car.
One reporter shouted: “How are the cease-fire talks going?” Biden gave a thumbs-up. It was his only public interaction in five days.
White House staff has been equally as tight-lipped about how the president and his family have spent their vacation or how they reacted to the poignant moment in Biden’s political career. Only one moment was telegraphed to the public: the president and first lady Jill Biden, standing next to a TV broadcasting the convention shortly before Harris accepted the party’s nomination.
The only other snippet of information that was passed on from the inner circle was that local rumors of the president dining out were not true — the family ate together at the ranch every night.
Jill and I just spoke to @KamalaHarris — we can’t wait to watch her accept this historic nomination.
Kamala and Tim will inspire a generation and lead us into the future. pic.twitter.com/guKuTevT8F
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 23, 2024
On Sunday, the family traveled to Rehoboth Beach for another week of vacation.
While Biden has barely been seen this past week, no shortage of global crises meant his work continued throughout the vacation. He spoke with heads of state from Egypt, Qatar and Israel in an effort to get cease-fire talks back on track, as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to the White House. He also dispatching his national security adviser Jake Sullivan to China. The president is reported to have spent some time with aides prioritizing policy choices for the final months of his presidency.
The first lady, meanwhile, took advantage of the stay in the valley. She was spotted shopping and walking the dog, according to locals, in Santa Ynez, Solvang and Los Olivos.
The president would have struggled to find a vacation home farther away from the buzz and furor of the election cycle. White picket fences line the narrow country roads that dip throughout the valley leading to the gates of the sprawling ranch. Horses, cows and the “Golden Retriever Retreat” surrounding the home stood in stark contrast to the energy that coursed through the convention throughout the week.
The stay has drawn the ire of Republicans who have raised questions over the ethics of the Biden family’s record of vacationing at the homes of Democratic donors. Kiani — the founder and chief executive of medical technology company Masimo — whom Biden describes as a “close friend” — also sits on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Biden, however, is not the only president to have enjoyed vacations at the home of political donors.
