President Joe Biden and his family are spending their final holiday before leaving the White House in St. Croix, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands. The latest visit marks the group’s third consecutive New Year’s holiday at that location. According to CBS News, they stayed at the residence of a wealthy donor in the past. In 2023, Biden made it clear that he wanted “to come back next year.”
The head of state and his loved ones arrived on the island Thursday (Dec. 26) afternoon. Notably, the president did not address reporters before his departure. As is customary, he and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden are expected to remain mostly out of public view while at the Caribbean getaway, which is home to about 41,000 people. While this marks his final holiday as leader of the free world, he is scheduled to visit Rome, Italy, in January to meet with Pope Francis before his official sign-off.
December was a relatively busy month for Biden. As REVOLT previously reported, this month saw him granting clemency to over 1,500 criminals, including his son Hunter and Black Mafia Family drug kingpin Terry “Southwest Tee” Flenory. Just before Christmas, he commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 federal death row inmates, converting their punishments to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. “These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my administration has imposed on federal executions in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder,” Biden explained regarding his decision.
CBS News added that, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, the president is focused on solidifying key legislative achievements in his final days, including the bipartisan infrastructure law, the CHIPS and Science Act and efforts to reduce prescription drug costs. “That's our focus,” Jean-Pierre stated. “That's what we’ve been doing. And we’re going to continue, certainly, to do that.”