(Daily360.com) First lady Jill Biden is receiving backlash for extra plane trips between Wilmington, DE and Paris, France that will be funded by United States taxpayers. The wife of the president attended ceremonies in Paris with her husband before flying to Wilmington the next day. She attended the high-profile trial of Hunter Biden before flying back to Paris to partake in D-Day ceremonies with President Biden.
Jill Biden did two round trips, but one of the round trips was specifically to attend personal matters involving her step-son Hunter. The cost of a private government plane is expensive and typically costs $200,000 per flight hour according to some reports. Other estimates have the total cost of the first lady’s flights to be $345,400.
Another estimate focuses purely on the round trip that Jill Biden took so she could attend Hunter’s trial and return back to Paris for D-Day ceremonies. That estimate is $223,000, but the Democratic Party is covering a bit of that cost. The DNC reportedly will cover the cost of a first class flight for each leg of the trip. That is about $13,310 for one round-trip first class airfare from Wilmington to Paris. That leaves $209,690 that will be paid for by American taxpayers.
There are additional costs associated with trips that are made by the president and first lady. This includes and White House staffers, aides, and secret service agents. This cost is estimated to be $6,655 based on President Biden’s flight from Pennsylvania to Paris.
Wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars is under increased scrutiny as the national debt continues to increase by billions of dollars each year. The national debt has increased by more than $6 trillion since 2020, a 23% increase in just three years. Senator Rand Paul’s annual festivus report found the U.S. wasted $900 billion in taxpayer funds in 2023. Also in 2023, the U.S. spent $658 billion on interest for the national debt.
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