Joe Biden is contractually obligated to receive angel hair pomodoro at every paid speech
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Joe Biden is a candidate of habit.
When Biden was in the Senate, he was often its poorest member — a designation he's proudly touted even on the 2020 campaign trail. Yet Biden turned his finances around after his time as vice president, and seemingly hasn't figured out a creative way to use his fortune.
Since leaving office, the 2020 frontrunner has pulled in "millions of dollars largely from book deals and speaking fees that ranged to as much as $200,000 per speech," The Washington Post reports via public documents. And at every one of those events, Biden has maintained one very major demand: Pasta. Contracts required that his speech hosts serve him "angel hair pomodoro, a caprese salad, topped off with raspberry sorbet with biscotti," the Post reports. He'd wash it down with "Coke Zero, Regular Coke, Orange Gatorade and black coffee," all of which had to be in his dressing room, the Post continues.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Those requests only applied to Biden's paid speaking gigs, but his 2020 campaign stops have so far come with similar perks. Sponsors have so far picked up the tab for "VIP hotel suites, town cars and professional drivers, chartered flights and travel expense reimbursements," the Post reports.
Biden's campaign declined to comment to the Post on this story, or on why he's replaced his signature ice cream with a much more lavish dessert.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
‘The West needs people’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Filing statuses: What they are and how to choose one for your taxesThe Explainer Your status will determine how much you pay, plus the tax credits and deductions you can claim
-
Nan Goldin: The Ballad of Sexual Dependency – an ‘engrossing’ exhibitionThe Week Recommends All 126 images from the American photographer’s ‘influential’ photobook have come to the UK for the first time
-
The ‘mad king’: has Trump finally lost it?Talking Point Rambling speeches, wind turbine obsession, and an ‘unhinged’ letter to Norway’s prime minister have caused concern whether the rest of his term is ‘sustainable’
-
Trump sues IRS for $10B over tax record leaksSpeed Read The president is claiming ‘reputational and financial harm’ from leaks of his tax information between 2018 and 2020
-
Trump, Senate Democrats reach DHS funding dealSpeed Read The deal will fund most of the government through September and the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks
-
Fed holds rates steady, bucking Trump pressureSpeed Read The Federal Reserve voted to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged
-
Judge slams ICE violations amid growing backlashSpeed Read ‘ICE is not a law unto itself,’ said a federal judge after the agency violated at least 96 court orders
-
Rep. Ilhan Omar attacked with unknown liquidSpeed Read This ‘small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work’
-
Democrats pledge Noem impeachment if not firedSpeed Read Trump is publicly defending the Homeland Security secretary
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
