What Has Joe Biden Been Up To?

dailycaller.com

After leaving public office, former President Joe Biden didn’t go quietly like some expected, instead filling his year with public appearances and headline-making moments.

It’s been nearly a year since Biden left the White House, but that doesn’t mean it’s been a quiet year for the longtime senator and one-term president. What started with pardoning many members of his family ended with a viral Christmas eve post and included speeches, book writing and train rides in between. (RELATED: Biden’s Biggest Regret Is His Most Shameless Admission Yet)

Biden started the year off hot, granting preemptive pardons to Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Army Gen. Mark Milley, members of the House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol and members of his family in the final days of his presidency. The former president remained rather quiet after departing D.C. on Jan. 20, making just a few statements on X until March.

US former President Joe Biden and former First Lady Jill Biden wave as they board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, during a farewell ceremony on January 20, 2025, following Donald Trump's inauguration. (Photo by Allison ROBBERT / AFP) (Photo by ALLISON ROBBERT/AFP via Getty Images)

US former President Joe Biden and former First Lady Jill Biden wave as they board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, during a farewell ceremony on January 20, 2025, following Donald Trump’s inauguration. (Photo by ALLISON ROBBERT/AFP via Getty Images)

In March, Biden emerged from political hibernation. First, NBC News reported that Biden and his former First Lady Jill Biden wanted back into politics even after being forced out by their own party. Sources told the outlet that the former president met with newly elected Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin in February to offer his assistance.

Sources at the time said Biden and his wife were both working on a book, and the former president was traveling back and forth between Delaware and D.C. to meet with advisors while he wrote.

A few days later, Biden waded back into the political arena to make a campaign-like post.

“Fifteen years ago today, I stood with President Obama as he signed the Affordable Care Act into law. It was a big deal then and it still is today,” Biden wrote as the Trump administration proposed modifications to the program.

“Under my administration, we focused on building on the successes of the ACA. I’m proud that we helped a record number of Americans sign up for marketplace coverage and significantly lowered the costs of prescription drugs and premiums. I believe that health care is a right, not a privilege – and we should always protect it,” the post continued.

The Bidens also made their first big appearance in March after leaving office, attending the opening night of “Othello” on Broadway.

In April, Biden gave his first public speech since leaving office, choosing to lecture Americans on “dignity.”

“It’s about dignity. Simple dignity. Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity. Regardless of their standard, regardless of their economic system, regardless of who they are,” Biden said just months after he called Trump supporters “garbage.”

Biden and his wife chose May to make their first major TV appearance since leaving office, joining “The View.” The former president did his first solo TV appearance also in May, talking with the BBC.

It was during his interview with the BBC that he claimed dropping out of the presidential race was a “hard decision” because his presidency was “so successful on our agenda.”

In typical Biden fashion, he rambled after being asked about reports of his cognitive decline during his sit down with “The View.” The former first lady had to step in to defend him.

“They are wrong. There’s nothing to sustain that. Number one. Number two, you know, think of what we were left with. We were left with a circumstance where we had an insurrection when I started — not since the Civil War. We had a circumstance where we were in a position that we — well, the pandemic, because of the incompetence of the last outfit and up over a million people dying, a million people dying,” Biden said. “And we were also in a situation where we found ourselves unable to deal with a lot of just basic issues, and which I won’t go into in the interest of time. And so we went to work and we got it done and, you know, one of the things that — well … I’m talking too long,” Biden said, trailing off before his wife took over.

It was also in May that Biden’s personal office announced he had been diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer. The former president was suffering from “a more aggressive form of the disease” that has metastasized to the bone, the statement said, noting that it could be appropriately managed.

In June, the New York Post broke that Biden had been taking the Amtrak to and from Delaware and was being loud in the quiet car. While taking his trip on the train, The Post reported that Biden requested ice cream but had to accept a muffin.

“He was talking in the quiet car!” an Amtrak regular told The Post.

Following his trip on the Amtrak, Biden made another public appearance at Reedy Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Galveston, Texas, for a Juneteenth celebration.

In July, Biden signed a memoir deal with Hachette Book Group for around $10 million, sources told The Wall Street Journal. The deal is much smaller than his predecessors, as former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama reportedly signed a joint publishing deal with Penguin Random House worth around $60 million and former President Bill Clinton was paid $15 million for his autobiography.

Biden then headlined the National Bar Association’s 100th Annual Awards Gala in Chicago. 

August was a rather quiet month for Biden, though his daughter Ashley posted several photos with her father, according to the fan account Biden Activities Tracker.

In September, Biden publicly announced that he underwent Mohs micrographic surgery to remove skin cancer lesions from his head. It was the same month that The Wall Street Journal reported that the former president is raking in far less cash than he expected to post-presidency. The outlet reported that Biden has $800,000 of personal debt to pay off while helping his son Hunter Biden pay for legal bills and his daughter Ashley with her divorce. Speaking gigs for the former president are rare, according to the outlet, who also reported that Biden is flying commercial when he travels by plane.

In October, Biden finished radiation therapy, an update shared by his daughter Ashley Biden.

Biden rounded out the year with a fundraising event and spending the holidays with his family. The former president spoke at the International LGBTQ+ Leaders Conference in December, where he made his biggest gaffe of the year and botched “the United States of America.”

The former president also posted a photo with his family on Christmas Eve which accidentally went viral because Biden was shoved in the back of the picture.

“I think it’s disrespectful to put the eldest family member in the back of a photo taken for the former president’s social media,” Andy Ngo of the Post Millennial wrote in response to the post.