WASHINGTON — President Biden said Monday that he wanted to attend this year’s Paris Olympics, but “they” told him he couldn’t go because of the “commotion” it would create — even though other US presidents attended the games.
“Because I’m president and I cause commotion when I go places, they wouldn’t let me go the Olympics. But I watched it all. Jill, my wife, went to the Olympics,” Biden told a gathering of about 400 athletes from the Olympics and Paralympics on the White House lawn.
The retiring 81-year-old president later said that “they” could not prevent him from attending the next Olympics in four years.
“The Los Angeles summer games in ’28 — I won’t be president. They can’t stop me from going there then,” he said.
Biden routinely blames unspecified staff — or a vague “they” — for restricting his movements or freedom to call on reporters whose names aren’t on an approved list — drawing ridicule due to the fact that he holds the world’s most powerful job.
It’s unclear to what extent his claims are accurate — or if they’re simply a way to excuse his absence from or aversion to certain engagements.
Other presidents have attended the Olympics.
George W. Bush went to the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Bill Clinton visited the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 and and Ronald Reagan attended the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.
