WASHINGTON — It’s not just Biden family artwork that’s struggling to sell these days.
Former President Joe Biden’s attempt to bill $300,000 per speaking appearance is finding few takers, The Post has learned — as some of his own former aides say it’s time for the 82-year-old to leave the spotlight for good after reminiscing about “colored kids” Tuesday in his first public address since leaving office.
A source familiar with Biden’s faltering speaking career said that the 46th president’s standard pitch is $300,000 — 25% below Barack Obama’s $400,000 asking price upon leaving office in 2017.
It’s unclear how negotiable Biden’s rate is.
If travel is required, a private jet and expenses for five staffers also is expected for Biden, who has been repped since early February by the Creative Artists Agency.
“CAA is having trouble booking gigs, which isn’t surprising,” the tipster said.
A second source said they heard people close to Biden floating an even higher desired fee, despite the ex-commander in chief having a history of peddling glaring inaccuracies before his political career came to a crashing end when he delivered incoherent debate remarks that prompted a Democratic mutiny.
Biden’s use of “colored” to refer to black people while speaking at a disability conference in Chicago earlier this week has some former aides hoping he will spend more time at his Rehoboth Beach house.
“This was hard to watch,” said one former White House official. “It felt like seeing someone you care about start to regress. We just wanted him to enjoy retirement like other presidents — not go out like this.”
The ex-aide noted that minority staffers had been growing disillusioned even during Biden’s presidency.
“Black people elected Joe Biden, and then his senior team cut them off, even staff hired to help with engagement,” this person said.
Biden’s first known speech since leaving office took place March 15 at a National High School Model United Nations conference (NHSMUN), followed by his Tuesday address to the group Advocates, Counselors, and Representatives for the Disabled (ACRD).
On Wednesday, the former president spoke to an invitation-only Harvard Institute of Politics seminar arranged by his longtime aide Mike Donilon.
A Harvard spokesman said Biden was not paid for that visit.
Spokespeople for NHSMUN and ACRD did not respond to requests for comment about whether they paid Biden — and if so, what amount.
The precise reason that Biden is struggling to find top-dollar audiences is unclear.
The quality of potential remarks aside, some former aides say that CAA — which declined to comment for this story, and which also reps former Vice President Kamala Harris — may be ill-positioned to book lucrative business conference gigs.
An alternate theory holds that interest in Biden’s thoughts will build over time.
One source close to Biden’s post-presidential office said that signing with CAA was a “bad decision.”
The Harry Walker Agency, which works with both Bill and Hillary Clinton as well as Obama, “has relationships with all these large annual conferences and clients looking for high-profile speakers,” this person said.
“CAA is a Hollywood shop. They’re not set up to market speakers to, like, the national duty-free shopping conference. The bread and butter of paid speaking gigs is random large annual industry conferences.”
A different source concurred in that assessment, but added they believed Biden could rebound.
“I do not think he is a draw yet,” this former staffer said. “I think he will be more of a draw as Trump continues to dismantle our democracy.”
Biden had little trouble raking in big sums post-vice presidency — as did his brother James and son Hunter, who offered their consulting services to foreign patrons during and after his eight years as Obama’s second-in-command.
Much of Biden’s prior success in the public speaking business came from colleges, which may have soured on the former president after he spent four years in the White House railing against the high cost of education and the ensuing burden of college debt.
His post-VP windfall included $190,000 to speak at Drew University in New Jersey; $182,000 from Lake Michigan College, a community college; $180,000 to appear at Vanderbilt University; $180,000 to speak at the University of Buffalo; $125,000 to visit Southern Connecticut State University; $100,000 to speak at Long Island University, and $93,000 to visit Brown University, according to public disclosures.
A Biden spokesperson did not offer comment.
