Curtis Jackson, the Grammy Award-winning rap artist better known as ‘50 Cent,’ has hit out at US President Joe Biden for taking a beach vacation in his home state of Delaware last week while his administration faces several concurrent crises.
“Hey Joe,” Jackson wrote to his 30 million Instagram followers on Sunday along with a picture of Biden and his wife, Jill, relaxing on sun loungers at a closed-off Rehoboth Beach last week. “Get the f*ck up, we in trouble man!”
The rapper, 48, later posted a second image of the Bidens sunbathing on a beach, writing: “We got some real sh*t going on out here Joe. What’s the plan to get a tan and chill, come on now.” The initial post from Jackson had received around 175,000 ‘likes’ on Instagram as of Monday afternoon.
Jackson’s call to action for the commander-in-chief comes as his presidency faces myriad challenges both at home and abroad, with a conflict raging in the Middle East while the US Congress spars over military aid to Kiev.
Biden returned to Washington early on Thursday after a brief visit to Israel, where he reaffirmed US support for its ally amid deadly fighting with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The US leader also secured an agreement with both Israel and Egypt to allow the supply of humanitarian aid to the under-siege Gaza Strip – but plans for talks with regional leaders in Jordan were shelved following last week’s Gaza hospital explosion.
The Bidens subsequently traveled to Delaware on Friday evening.
The US House of Representatives, meanwhile, remains in political gridlock as Republicans struggle to agree on the election of a new speaker following Kevin McCarthy’s removal earlier this month, stifling Biden’s legislative agenda in the process.
McCarthy was ousted by members of his own party – in particular hardline Florida Republican representative Matt Gaetz – after he passed a stopgap measure with Democratic approval to continue to fund the federal government, averting a disruptive shutdown. Last week, Biden addressed US citizens from the Oval Office and asked Congress for $100 billion to fund support for Ukraine, Israel and for other “key national security priorities.”
Many social media users agreed with Jackson’s take on Biden’s apparent inaction. “Destroying the country is hard work,” wrote one commenter. “Let him rest.” Another said: “We gotta get this senior citizen outta office.”
According to a Republican-led research group in May, Biden had spent at least 331 days, or 40% of his presidency, on vacation.