Biden blasted for rude behavior on Amtrak trains while commuting to new DC office
Former President Joe Biden has reportedly been flouting Amtrak etiquette on his beloved rail commute as he infuriates other passengers with his antics.
The 82-year-old has been commuting between his Delaware home and a government-provided Washington DC office on a weekly basis in recent times.
But not everyone is happy the former commander-in-chief is back riding the rails, as he has reportedly been breaking Amtrak's strict rules on noise in its silent sections.
'He was talking in the quiet car!' one frustrated Amtrak passenger told the New York Post.
The outlet further alleged that despite Biden's long history with rail travel, earning him the nickname 'Amtrak Joe' as he famously commuted on the rail throughout his 36 years in the Senate, he has forgotten other Amtrak norms.
Biden recently asked for ice cream as a snack from the train's cafe, not knowing it doesn't serve his favorite snack.
In recent weeks, social media users have shared random sightings of the former president on Amtrak, seemingly in disbelief he takes the low-key route to DC.
But the reason for his repeat trips back to his DC office have also been confusing observers, as many question what he is working on since leaving office.
Although some say Biden's Amtrak trips are ruining their commutes, one witness told the Post that it is not entirely his fault.
'If he's talking, it's because he's constantly approached,' they said.
'That is always a criticism of him — that he's too soft spoken! No winning.'
Since dropping out of the 2024 election over concerns about his age and cognitive decline, several former staffers now say they are confused at what he is doing on his weekly trips back to DC.
'It's really a mystery,' a former Biden aide said.
'They're supposed to be setting up library stuff but no one has heard anything. We're all wondering the same thing because he doesn't go to restaurants or anything public around here.'
An insider told the Post that he often spends time in the office and calls Democrats to pass the time, however many may wish to avoid being too closely tied to the former president following the election drubbing in November.
'He's also been attending events which are sometimes coordinated through the office,' they said.
'He was just in Galveston, Texas, to attend a Juneteenth service as a recent example. Separately, he's working on his book and library and foundation phases of post-presidency.'
It comes as Biden has faced a torrid few months since leaving the White House, as former staffers quickly came out to criticize his presidency and apparent cognitive decline.
He was diagnosed with stage four cancer in May, with doctors saying the disease has already spread to his bones.
This month, the former White House physician to President Barack Obama, Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman, spoke out on the health rumors as he admitted that Biden should have undergone far more stringent cognitive testing during his presidency.
Kuhlman didn't mince words warning that Biden should have been subjected to extensive annual neurocognitive exams and that the results should be made public.'
My position is that a 78-year-old candidate, Trump at the time, an 82-year-old president [Biden], would both benefit from neurocognitive testing,' Kuhlman stated, noting how age-related decline is inevitable.
'Any politician over the age of 70 has normal age-related cognitive decline.'
Kuhlman, the author of Transforming Presidential Healthcare, has been making these recommendations for nearly a year - notably publishing them in a New York Times op-ed on the very day Biden bowed out of the 2024 race.
Despite multiple detailed physicals during Biden's time in office, Kuhlman pointed out that none included neurocognitive assessments like the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) - a basic test famously taken and 'aced' by President Trump.
'I have no doubt that President Trump aced it,' Kuhlman remarked.
Yet Biden's evaluations, spanning five to six single-spaced pages and referencing 10 to 20 specialists, conspicuously omitted any serious cognitive screening.
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With someone he's dating? 'Dating is… It's a lame word…' He trails off before talking about the dog instead. 'You see, she wants to play. She just doesn't quite know how to do it.' At this point Billy begins humping another dog. I suggest this might be too on the nose to include in the interview. 'A little bit,' he concedes. 'You can kind of see the lead for your piece taking shape right now in front of us. I'll write your lead for you: 'You can tell Anthony Weiner's dog has been around him for a while.' ' We wrap up the subject of dating. 'Put it this way: it's fraught. But I don't date much.' Does he stand any chance of winning, though? Weiner thinks his opponents in the upcoming council election are tame. 'In today's world, you've got these other people that I'm running against [who] cut their teeth in a very different time, where it's: how do you get this? How do you not offend this group?' He talks about homelessness. 'You have homeless people who are mentally unwell living on our streets. It's a problem. Everyone recognises [it], every candidate recognises it… This group of politicians that I am up against, they look at the situation and say, all right, who's on this side of the problem? Who's on this side? 'And there are people like the American Civil Liberties Union, who said that a homeless person has a right to be on that street right now in our public space. But most people in this part [of the city], most people who vote, they look at that and say, 'How do we solve that problem?' ' His putative return to politics is not without backlash. Sarah Batchu proposed a bill in February nicknamed the Weiner Act that would ban registered sex offenders — of which Weiner is one — from holding public office. His top opponent is Harvey Epstein, a previously unknown candidate who went viral when Saturday Night Live did a sketch about his name: neither Harvey Weinstein nor Jeffrey Epstein. We leave the dog park and a man walks towards us holding a camera. 'You've got some nerve running for office after sending that dick!' Weiner is unfazed. 'Say, one of these Trump motherf***ers!' Most of what is shouted over the next three minutes is even more unprintable than that. 'You kiss your mom with that mouth?' Weiner asks him, repeatedly shouting, 'Trump motherf***er, go home!' and, 'Another Trump motherf***er!' to those in the park who are, by this point, beginning to turn their heads. The man repeats the usual charges. 'Your fault that Trump got elected in the first place, motherf***er!' he rages. 'They used your sex crime to sink Hillary!' The episode feels reminiscent of the 2016 fly-on-the-wall documentary, Weiner, which introduced me and countless others to Weiner's brusque style while his mayoral campaign (and then marriage too) combusted in real time, its whole extraordinary disintegration captured on camera. This time, a number of young men rally to him. 'Mr Weiner,' one says. 'Don't even talk to him. He's worthless.' These aren't the only men we bump into on our walk who are supportive of Weiner — and they are largely men. But it's difficult to tell if he stands a chance in the council election. 'It's too small a district to really poll,' he says. But he knows his pitch well. 'I just think that my gift is the absence of really giving a shit about whether I might offend someone… And it sounds to people like, oh, I'm doing something different. 'No, what I'm really doing is just practising the only form of politics I know how to do now. Is it going to fit well with this moment? Does it fit well with this electorate? Does it fit well with my scandal? Who the f*** knows. But I don't know any other way to do it. I don't know any other way to do it.'
