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Joe and Jill Biden may have been waiting to enter the White House longer than necessary on opening day because there was a shortage of staff to welcome them.
Breaking with White House protocol, the new president and first lady were left standing in front of closed doors as they took photos outside their new residence for the first time on Wednesday.
The Trumps “sent the butlers home when they left so that there would be no one to help the Bidens when they arrived,” a senior official not associated with the Biden administration told the National Journal.
Chief bailiff Timothy Harleth was also fired by the Trumps before their departure on Wednesday morning, the publication reports. White House press secretary Jen Psak later confirmed that Harleth the exit happened “before we got through the door.”
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Video of the Bidens’ arrival shows them standing outside the doors of the White House for a photoshoot, which lasted more than a minute before making their way to the residence.
The doors then opened for the couple, although it is not clear from the video whether they were opened from the inside or the outside.
A veteran White House social expert told the National Journal that it is “a great breach of protocol for the president to stand in front of a closed door to the White House.”
“Maybe that’s why there was no one to open the doors to the Bidens. You couldn’t expect Biden’s staff to know how to do it. The doors are opened and closed by the bailiffs. There are rules on all of these things and everyone has their job, ”they added.
However, a former White House official told the publication that the couple’s team may have specifically requested that the doors be closed for the photoshoot.
“But what should have happened was that a Biden staff member should have warned the usher or the staff member on the other side of that door that it was time to open it. ‘was a staff error, “they said.
Biden’s entry was in stark contrast to Trump’s first visit to the White House on his inauguration day four years earlier.
On January 20, 2017, Donald and Melanie Trump were greeted by former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, who posed for photos with the couple before entering the building together through open doors.
Trump broke tradition by choosing not to attend Biden’s inauguration ceremony last week. Instead, the former president gave a brief farewell speech at Joint Base Andrews before flying to South Florida with his wife.
Representatives for President Biden did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
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