Administration

President takes unexpected trip to Delaware to vote

President Joe Biden waves as he boards Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022, to travel to Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

President Biden on Tuesday took an unexpected trip to Delaware to cast his ballot in the primary election in his home state.

When reporters asked the president why he was going to Delaware, he responded, “To vote.”

The president’s trip is expected to be a quick jaunt out of Washington. The White House updated his schedule right before he left to include a departure from the White House at 5:35 p.m. for a trip to Wilmington, Del., and an arrival back to the White House at 9 p.m. on Tuesday evening.

Polls close at 8 p.m. in Delaware on Tuesday. There are no primaries in the state for members of Congress or governor, but it is holding primaries for local races including for General Assembly seats and for state auditor.

Reporters asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre earlier if Biden planned to cast his ballot in the Delaware primaries and said she didn’t have anything to share about that at the time.

Biden’s trip wraps up his day of hosting lawmakers and other guests at the White House for a celebration to mark the passage of the sweeping Inflation Reduction Act. The event came as the stock market fell on the news that consumer prices rose in August, though.

On Wednesday, the president is scheduled to travel to Michigan to visit the Detroit Auto Show and deliver remarks on electric vehicle manufacturing.