Biden hosts Obama for lunch at the White House
President Biden hosted former President Obama at the White House for lunch Tuesday, the White House announced.
“There’s no specific agenda to this meeting,” principal deputy press secretary Olivia Dalton told reporters. She noted that the “two presidents stay in touch regularly.”
The lunch comes as Biden has stepped up his fundraising efforts ahead of his first 2024 campaign finance report in July. He is set to attend a fundraiser in Chevy Chase, Md., a suburb of Washington later Tuesday. On Wednesday, Biden will travel to Chicago — Obama’s hometown — for a speech on the economy and for fundraisers.
The Biden campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment on whether Obama will join Biden at the Chevy Chase or Chicago fundraisers.
The president talks often with the former president and Obama occasionally visits the White House. Their last conversation that was announced by the White House was earlier this month, when the two spoke on the phone ahead of the vote to raise the debt ceiling.
Although Biden did not provide details about that call, the legislation passed the Senate soon after, and the president celebrated a major bipartisan win.
Obama visited the White House in April 2022 for the anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, which passed under his presidency and when Biden was vice president. Obama also attended his presidential portrait unveiling in September 2022.
Obama lent his star power to Democrats during the midterm elections when he rallied with Biden and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) in Philadelphia in early November. The former president is expected to similarly assist Biden with his reelection campaign and boost other Democrats in 2024.
Updated at 1:52 p.m.