Then Obama opened his remarks by saying, “Thank you, Vice President Biden.”
President Biden laughed and saluted, and Obama walked away from the podium and gave Biden a hug, vowing he was just making a joke. “That was all set up,” he said.
But for some longtime Biden staffers, the zinger punctured the celebratory mood. They saw the quip, intentional or not, as part of a pattern of arrogance from Obama and a reminder of the disrespect many felt from Obama’s cadre of aides toward Biden.
None of that is expected to be on public display Wednesday when Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama return to the White House for a ceremony to unveil their official White House portraits. Instead, the atmosphere is expected to be similar to a family reunion, filled with stories, jokes and affection.
Beneath that jovial atmosphere, however, is long-simmering tension, and even some jealousy, between the circles around Obama and Biden — the two Democratic presidents of the past 15 years and the ones who bracketed what Democrats see as the disastrous tenure of Donald Trump.
Some Biden loyalists are resentful that Obama didn’t throw his weight behind Biden’s presidential aspirations, complaining that even now Obama’s team does not fully respect Biden. Obama loyalists are frustrated that Biden’s aides regularly boast of how they have avoided the mistakes of the Obama White House, such as failing to sufficiently tout the president’s accomplishments.
Democratic leaders say they urgently need both presidents to bolster party turnout in the upcoming midterms. Obama is revered by many in the Democratic base, while Biden retains a strong appeal to Democratic centrists and has drawing power as the sitting president.
Since Jimmy Carter invited Gerald Ford back to the White House in 1978, nearly every sitting president has hosted a portrait unveiling ceremony for his immediate predecessor, regardless of party, often providing an occasion for bipartisan bonhomie. When Obama hosted George W. Bush, Bush joked that Obama could now gaze at his portrait in difficult moments and ask himself, “What would George do?”
Former president Donald Trump skipped that tradition, setting up Wednesday’s event, and it appears unlikely that Biden will host the unveiling of Trump’s portrait.
Earlier paintings of the Obamas were unveiled in February 2018 by the National Portrait Gallery, including the striking image by Kehinde Wiley of the former president floating amid a sea of leaves. The portraits unveiled Wednesday will hang in the White House itself.
For much of the Obama presidency, the relationship between him and Biden was hailed as a “bromance.” They had lunch every week. Obama presented Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom and called him “the best vice president America’s ever had.”
“I think they had a very rich partnership during the Obama administration,” said David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to Obama who will be in attendance Wednesday. “I think it would be a mistake to suggest otherwise.”
But aides say the “bromance” was always exaggerated. The two had a strong working relationship and a personal friendship, but aides also noted that the men come from different generations (a 19-year age gap), different backgrounds (Biden served 36 years in the Senate; Obama served less than four) and have different styles (Obama is a gifted orator and deep thinker; Biden is the consummate retail politician who often goes off script).
Those differences erupted early in the 2008 presidential campaign, when Biden said about Obama, then his…
Read More: On eve of Obamas’ visit to White House, Obama-Biden tensions linger
