Former Vice President Joe Biden is turning heads among American nudists as he plunges into the 2020 presidential race.
Although proudly pan-partisan, nudism activists believe Biden’s reported preference for swimming without a suit could lead to an administration sympathetic to their policies.
“We are encouraged by the prospect that someone who understands how much you enjoy your birthday suit is seeking higher office. That’s a great thing,” said Erich Schuttauf, executive director of the American Association for Nude Recreation.
Schuttauf said that far from being a liability, Biden could gain voters by speaking on nudism. About 18% of Americans have engaged in skinny-dipping, he said, and polling indicates even greater interest among young adults.
“A positive message about skinny dipping and the human body is going to resonate,” he said, adding: “We start by saying good for him and good for anyone who likes to skinny dip.”
While Biden’s reported clothing-free habits are said to upset female Secret Service agents charged with protecting him, the no-clothes community sees promise in the Democratic front-runner.
Nudism buffs note that Biden, who turns 77 in November, would not be the first of their kind to be commander in chief. About 200 years ago, President John Quincy Adams began his days with a nude swim in the Potomac River. In the ‘60s, John F. Kennedy was rumored to skinny-dip with mistresses in the White House swimming pool.
Biden’s reported preference for swimming au naturel was reported in the 2014 book The First Family Detail by former Washington Post journalist Ronald Kessler, who specializes in reporting on the Secret Service.
“Agents say that, whether at the vice president’s residence or at his home in Delaware, Biden has a habit of swimming in his pool nude,” Kessler wrote. “Female Secret Service agents find that offensive.”
[Also read: Obama pushed Joe Biden not to challenge Hillary Clinton in 2016]
After Kessler’s book was released, members of Biden’s press staff did not offer on-the-record denials, saying instead that they would not dignify the claim by discussing it.
Spokespeople for the Biden campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Carolyn Hawkins, member liaison for the American Association for Nude Recreation, said she agreed with Schuttauf’s enthusiasm about a potentially sympathetic president. But she said she’s not yet all aboard Team Biden. “I don’t think we’ve got that far yet,” she said.
Schuttauf said it’s important to note that, while intrigued by Biden, nudism advocates are politically diverse, and “we would feel the same if someone were from the other side of the aisle” with similar credentials.
Schuttauf said to those who recoil at the mental image of Biden nude, “we are most concerned about who someone is on the inside.”
