Flying aboard Air Force One is pretty cool. I did it hundreds of times.
First, you KNOW the plane isn’t going to crash (although doing that crazy spiral descent from 40,000 feet to the ground into Iraq is pretty hairy). Second, there’s never — never — a delay in taking off. George W. Bush was the best: He’d get on, the press would scramble up the back stairs, swiftly grab a seat, and into the air we went.
Third, the food is good. Really good. Dining on AF1 is like eating at a four-star restaurant — quality food perfectly cooked.
But staffers who fly on Air Force Two with Vice President Kamala Harris are claiming they get served shabby meals.
“It’s a little more Southwest Airlines than Four Seasons,” said a former staffer to Harris, who described Air Force Two food as “horrible slop,” Politico reported.
The veep’s staffers complain that they get served cold pasta salad, soggy cold-cut sandwiches on white rolls, and bags of chips. When they’re flying early in the morning, it’s usually an egg and spinach breakfast burrito.
“Their counterparts on President Joe Biden’s plane get filet mignon and other hot delicacies on gold-rimmed plates, accompanied by cold beers,” The Telegraph reported.
“Everything sucks compared to AF-1,” a second former vice presidential staffer told Politico. “It’s so much more sophisticated and professional.”
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“Another downside of Air Force Two: no booze. While staffers flying with the president can order a beer on the way home from a long day of travel, those traveling on the vice president’s plane don’t have that option,” Politico wrote.
But then, that’s the plight of working for the vice president. John Nance Garner, who served as vice president for FDR, once said the job “isn’t worth a pitcher of warm piss.” You work around the edges, always in the shadows of the president. You get the worst assignments — during week one, President Joe Biden named Harris the Border Czar, charged with fixing the mess at the southern border.
But moaning about food they find inferior while flying around the world on private planes on taxpayer-paid trips is really a bit much. Politico said “some people would pack their own snacks when they traveled. Other times staff would pick up lunch or dinner at a local restaurant before hopping back on the plane.”
Oh, the horror.
Then again, Air Force Two passengers eat for free. Not so on Air Force One. One former staff member estimated that frequent fliers spend about $1,000 a year in meals on AF1. “It’s really hard to pay off on any junior staffer’s salary,” the staffer told The Telegraph, although they conceded, the food is “truly incredible.”
But it all seems just about right. Minor league baseball players carry their own bags, travel by bus, and stay at crummy hotels. So it is when you work for the vice president.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.