When President BidenJoe BidenGOP eyes booting Democrats from seats if House flips Five House members meet with Taiwanese president despite Chinese objections Sunday shows preview: New COVID-19 variant emerges; supply chain issues and inflation persist MORE visited a General Motors factory last week to test-drive one of the new electric Hummers, scheduled to debut next year, he wasn’t just highlighting the comeback of the automaker. He was putting a personal stamp on his presidency.
“These suckers are something else!” Biden said as he took the SUV for a couple of laps, including a burnout.
“Anyone wanna jump in the back? On the roof?” he asked.
Biden is a self-proclaimed “car guy” who owns a 1967 Corvette Stingray and frequently shows it off, including on CNBC’s “Jay Leno’s Garage.” Along with his tales of riding Amtrak to and from Wilmington Del., Biden has used cars to tell his own story.
“Biden has got some serious automobile cred,” said Robert Thompson, the founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University. “He took off with that thing like a 15-year-old with his learner’s permit,” he added of the Hummer joyride.
And cars, Thompson pointed out, are “firmly implanted in the American heart and soul.”
“Cars are everything from the stability of the economy to romance and youth and independence,” he said.
Biden’s predecessors also tried to mark their time in the White House with their cultural interests. Former President ObamaBarack Hussein ObamaHow a biased filibuster hurts Democrats more than Republicans Stephen Sondheim, legendary Broadway songwriter, dies at 91 With extreme gerrymanders locking in, Biden needs to make democracy preservation job one MORE frequently reached into television, music and books to telegraph his persona. Each year, for example, he invited an ESPN crew to the White House to unveil his March Madness bracket. He and former first lady Michelle ObamaMichelle LeVaughn Robinson ObamaPoll: Harris, Michelle Obama lead for 2024 if Biden doesn’t run Son gives emotional tribute to Colin Powell at service Biden, ex-presidents gather for Colin Powell’s funeral MORE also hosted hundreds of performers — including Stevie Wonder, John Legend and Lin-Manuel Miranda — to showcase the arts as well as their own stylistic choices.
Former President TrumpDonald TrumpStowaway found in landing gear of plane after flight from Guatemala to Miami Kushner looking to Middle East for investors in new firm: report GOP eyes booting Democrats from seats if House flips MORE, one of the most divisive public figures, put a stamp on the presidency in a way that others hadn’t.
Trump reinvented presidential communication with his regular Twitter use and shunned White House traditions such as the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner and daily press briefings.
Trump’s presidency often involved inflaming the nation’s culture wars. The former president publicly…