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President Joe Biden’s granddaughter, Naomi Biden, is set to marry Peter Neal on the South Lawn of the White House this Saturday, the day before the president turns 80 – timing CNN reports was no coincidence.
CNN reported Friday that “it was not a coincidence Naomi Biden’s wedding weekend coincides with the president’s day – noting the ‘age issue’ is never something Biden wants to highlight,” according to two sources familiar with the planning.
“The wedding gives some cover,” one of the sources is quoted telling CNN’s Kate Bennett.
Bennett summed up the sentiment, writing, “A glossy wedding of two twenty-somethings, kicking off a fresh life chapter with music and dancing and revelry, could put a youthful spin on the 80th birthday weekend.”
Bennett added that the wedding will “mark a kickoff of sorts” for the Biden family to begin talks around whether or not the president should seek reelection.
Biden’s birthday bash will reportedly be very low-key or possibly non-existent. The president has been reluctant to discuss the landmark event in his life, recently
Bennett noted that “shortly after the wedding, Jill Biden and Joe Biden will travel to Nantucket, Massachusetts, for the Thanksgiving holiday” – presumably celebrating Biden’s birthday on Sunday together away from the White House.
The Washington Post’s Matt Viser also reported on the White House’s lack of plans for any official event for Biden’s birthday, writing, “The White House has few plans to mark the landmark birthday in any major public way. Any celebration will be eclipsed, by design or not, by the wedding festivities of Biden’s granddaughter Naomi at the White House on Saturday.”
CNN’s latest reporting makes clear the timing of the wedding festivities was certainly by design.