Analyzing Joe Biden's drip

By Eli Stokols, Lauren Egan and Lawrence Ukenye

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It would probably come as a shock to many that an American president was more sharply dressed than his European counterparts. But when President JOE BIDEN stood on a stage at last week’s NATO summit in Lithuania, he was the only one whose suit pants were an appropriate length.

That was the opinion of the Menswear Guy — that dude who’s become ubiquitous on Twitter ever since ELON MUSK messed with the algorithm. “With the exception of Biden, all of these trousers are too long, and more than some are too slim to hang cleanly when the wearers are standing still,” Menswear Guy tweeted.

DEREK GUY, which is his actual name, is a longtime fashion blogger who launched his website, Put This On, 12 years ago. We asked him this week to assess the president’s style in greater detail. This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

Were people surprised that you had anointed Biden as best dressed among the world leaders last week?

I think he's better dressed than most people in Washington.

Well, that’s a low bar. But why?

I think some of it comes from his age and experience wearing tailored clothing. It’s just more intuitive to older people who grew up wearing tailored clothing and feel less awkward about it. If Biden’s pants were too long or his jacket was too short, it just seems like he would intuitively know.

What else defines Biden’s style to you?

He’s one of the few politicians who still wears a pocket square. And he also often wears black penny loafers with his suits, which is a very American thing to do.

His suits seem like they’re cut pretty slim. 

To me, they look like a very classic Brooks Brothers sort of cut. It’s a classic American cut. It does have a bit of shoulder padding, but they’re not as thick as some in more British suiting.

And they’re the right length and all of that?

I think he would look better with just a slightly wider lapel, maybe just like a smidge, but otherwise it’s just classic. His collar often hugs his neck, nothing ever really pulls. 

So just getting the fit right distinguishes him from other world leaders, including a lot of those who are younger than him?

Yeah, take [British Prime Minister] RISHI SUNAK, who wears a very slim-fitting suit. He wears a very trim, short coat. And then, because he does that, he has to wear very trim trousers. His clothes are made-to-measure. It’s remarkable that he wears made-to-measure suits and Biden, I’m almost certain, wears ready-to-wear — I think that because of the stitching on his lapels, which looks like it’s done by a machine. But Sunak looks worse. It just looks like he’s wearing a fashionable Barney’s suit from 2011. 

We’ve seen the president in swim trunks and sneakers this summer. What do you think of his casual wear?

He dresses better in casual wear than most other politicians. For instance, he wears a sportcoat, not an orphaned suit jacket, and he’ll wear it with tailored trousers, not washed jeans. Other politicians look awful in casual wear: RON DESANTIS, he’s campaigning right now in a fishing shirt that looks terrible. [Former President] BARACK OBAMA is dressing better now, but he was not particularly well dressed when he was in office and was deservedly mocked for his mom jeans. 

What did you think of the tennis shoes Biden sported a couple weekends ago when he was traveling?

Those looked like those Skechers slip-on Ultra Flex, which are very popular. Yeah, those are awful.

Hey, at least he’s never worn those rubber-soled dress sneakers. 

Those are not something I would ever want to see on… anyone. But when you’re an older guy, I guess, whatever. 

So, last question: where would you put Biden on the historical continuum of presidential fashion?

When I think of stylish presidents, I think of RONALD REAGAN or JFK. I don’t think Biden rises to that level. But he just has, like, an innate sense of what makes sense for him. I think that bar is: what 60 years ago would have been normal now makes you seem very well dressed compared to everyone else.

MESSAGE US — Are you JOE BIDEN’S TAILOR? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com.

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Which president gave away electric toothbrushes to guests, lawmakers, staff and friends?

(Answer at bottom.)

MCCONAUGHEY GOES ONCE MORE UNTO THE BREACH: President Biden will often tout the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which passed after last year’s school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, as the most significant gun safety measure enacted in three decades. He’s right, mostly because it’s the only gun safety measure enacted since the 1990s. But few school districts have applied for or received any of the act’s competitive grants to make schools safer. That’s largely because they’re unaware they exist or, in the case of smaller, higher need districts, due to a lack of resources.

On Thursday, actor MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY, an Uvalde native who was outspoken last summer about the need for action, launched a new private effort to help. Funded by himself and his friends, the Greenlights Grant Initiative aims initiative aims to raise awareness about the grants and to provide administrators with resources needed to apply, including free assistance from experienced grant writers. McConaughey spoke to Eli about the program and a longer-term focus on urging Congress to make federal grant applications easier to access.

THERE ARE OTHER CITIES, RIGHT?: Biden returned to Philadelphia on Thursday to discuss “Bidenomics,” the White House’s continued effort to showcase progress on nationwide manufacturing and jobs growth that the administration attributes to the president’s policies. Biden spoke to workers at Philly Shipyard building the Acadia, a vessel that will help build offshore wind farms, our KELSEY TAMBORRINO reports for Pro s. Despite enthusiasm from the audience, recent polling suggests Americans aren’t jazzed about how Biden is managing the economy.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by the Washington Post’s GREG SARGENT about how the manufacturing boom in Sun Belt states could help Biden’s reelection bid. Arizona and Georgia — two states Biden won narrowly to cement his 2020 victory — account for one-fifth of the nation’s private-sector industrial investments that stem from three major bills signed by the president. While Democrats have focused their attention on the Rust Belt after Trump swept Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in 2016, Sargent argues in favor of the president’s prospects for selling his “Bidenomics” message to Sun Belt voters.

While White House officials, ever wary of the Hatch Act, steered clear, the president’s reelection campaign blasted out a release highlighting the piece. Communications adviser TJ DUCKLO, press secretary KEVIN MUNOZ and campaign co-chair LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER all tweeted it.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This op-ed by New York Times columnist PAMELA PAUL about how Biden’s age and a potential rematch with former President DONALD TRUMP is filling Americans with a sense of “impending doom.” “A Biden-Trump rematch would mean a choice between two candidates who, for very different reasons, don’t seem 100 percent there or necessarily likely to be there — physically, mentally and/or not in prison — for the duration of another four-year term,” writes Paul. A focus on her “acute sensitivity to judgements — real or imagined — of those around her,” as the New Yorker’s MOLLY FISCHER wrote in a January profile, has made Paul a regular a regular object of disdain among the Twitterati.

That was the case again Thursday, with veterans of the Biden White House leading the charge. Former White House communications director KATE BEDINGFIELD tweeted the piece, calling it a “dangerous take.” Former chief of staff RON KLAIN, meanwhile, sarcastically shared the op-ed noting his personal excitement to “see poverty meaningfully decline for the first time since the 1960s and a plan to attack the existential crisis of climate change.”

NOT EXACTLY THE CHILLEST JOB IN D.C.: JONATHAN DAVIDSON, the assistant secretary for legislative affairs at the Treasury Department, is moving to the Department of Homeland Security to serve as chief of staff to Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, Eli and MYAH WARD scooped Thursday. His arrival at DHS comes as House Republicans continue a lobbying effort to convince more of their colleagues to impeach Mayorkas over the administration’s border policies, although they currently lack the votes.

FIRST IN WEST WING PLAYBOOK: CRISTÓBAL ALEX is returning to Latino Victory Project as a member of its board of directors. Alex was a senior Biden adviser on the 2020 campaign and served as deputy Cabinet secretary in the Biden White House. Alex was the founding president of the Latino Victory Project, which has become one of the most influential Latino organizations in American politics since its founding in 2014.

MORE PERSONNEL MOVES: KATIE SCHLICK is now special assistant to the national climate adviser at the White House. She most recently was a White House intern in its climate policy office.

WE’RE WAITING…: The Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday approved the nomination of Air Force Gen. C.Q. BROWN as Joint Chiefs chair, yet he is expected to wait behind the growing list of nominees blocked by Sen. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-Ala.) over the Pentagon’s abortion policy, our CONNOR O’BRIEN reports for Pro s.

Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER said on Wednesday he’d allow a vote on the policy — which pays for service members to travel to access abortions — but Tuberville hasn’t confirmed that a failed vote would satisfy him.

SOME BETTER NOMINEE NEWS: DAVID UHLMANN will lead the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance after being confirmed by the Senate on Thursday. Uhlmann was tapped by Biden in 2021 and waited more than two years due to feuds between the agency and lawmakers about EPA oversight letters and the lack of available floor time. Our ALEX GUILLÉN has the details for Pro s.

FOOD FALLOUT: The Biden administration invited China’s agriculture minister TANG RENJIAN to the APEC 2023 meeting in Seattle on Aug. 3 in hopes that China — who receives a substantial amount of Ukraine grain shipments — can persuade Russia to rejoin the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

“U.S., European and Chinese officials have publicly called for Moscow to extend the agreement, which has provided key food supplies to poor populations across Africa and the Middle East, while helping to stabilize skyrocketing food prices,” our MEREDITH LEE HILL and DOUG PALMER report. A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. did not respond to an inquiry about whether Tang plans to attend the meeting.

BEWARE: Lt. Gen. TIMOTHY HAUGH, Biden’s pick to head NSA and Cyber Command, used his nomination hearing before lawmakers to warn generative artificial intelligence could play an outsized role in next year’s election by providing adversaries like Russia or China another way to interfere, our MAGGIE MILLER reports.

The Biggest Winners in America’s Climate Law: Foreign Companies (WSJ’s Amrith Ramkumar and Phred Dvorak)

Opinion: 2024 won’t be a Trump-Biden replay. You can thank Gen Z for that. (Celinda Lake and Mac Heller for the WaPo)

The Long-Shot Candidate Who Has the White House Worried (The Atlantic’s Mark Leibovich)

Scoop! Why Ben from Ben & Jerry’s blames America for war in Ukraine (POLITICO’s Nicolas Camut)

It’s no secret Commerce Secretary GINA RAIMONDO is a proud Rhode Island native. She talked about her love for "stuffies," or stuffed clams, in a May 23 episode of The Boston Globe's “Rhode Island Report.”

For the uninitiated (which sadly included a few members of the West Wing Playbook team) a “stuffie,” according to Beer & Brewing, is "a breadcrumb and minced clam mixture that is baked on the half shell of a quahog hard-shell clam." Raimondo said she enjoys the snack with a beer in the summer.

Sounds like a touch of heaven.

President LYNDON B. JOHNSON was famous for his eclectic taste in “giveaways.” After receiving an electric toothbrush, DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, then an aide to LBJ, asked why he picked that item to give as a remembrance. Goodwin quotes Johnson, “I give these toothbrushes to friends for then I know that from now until the end of their days they will think of me first thing in the morning and the last at night.” Over time, Goodwin accepted 12 electric toothbrushes from Johnson.

Thanks to the LBJ Presidential Library and Foundation for this question!

A CALL OUT — Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents with a citation and we may feature it.

Edited by Eun Kyung Kim and Sam Stein.

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