Last week, the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado held its graduation ceremony for the Class of 2023. The commencement speaker for the event was President Joe Biden. In what was clearly the top story from the President’s appearance, he made a reference to the Epic Pass in his speech. Vail Resorts, who’s never one to shy away from promoting free advertising, shared a video snippet of his speech on Twitter.
Congratulations @AF_Academy graduates! You definitely earned some fun – we offer Epic Military Passes for all veterans, active duty, and retired military members. Thanks for the mention, @POTUS! We hope to welcome you all to the mountains soon. pic.twitter.com/z3pBaMmhkC
— VailResorts (@VailResorts) June 1, 2023
If you’re confused about why Biden randomly brought this up, here’s some context from his speech:
“It wasn’t all push-ups and cramming for prog week, though to set the Guinness Book of Records — World Records — most simultaneous push-ups — there had to be an enormous amount of push-ups.
Beyond you, beyond — but all of you — I think you had some fun along the way. Maybe a good use of your Epic Passes. (Laughter.) That would be reason enough to join. (Laughter.) Had a few steaks and tortellini dinners to celebrate commitment and job drops.”
It’s clear to see why Biden brought this up. For one, they’re in Colorado, which is home to many Vail properties. Secondly, the Miltary Epic Pass currently has a cost of $163 for active members, which is a pretty solid deal.
President Biden has a deep background in skiing. While going to law school at Syracuse, he learned to ski at Sugarbush Resort. Since then, he has frequented ski resorts in Colorado. In 2010, he was spotted at Beaver Creek. Biden made a variety of ski trips to Aspen Snowmass during the 2010s, and he spoke at the 25th annual National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic. Back in 2019, we shared a video of Biden going over the plaza at Two Creeks in Snowmass to say hey to a family.
This whole situation leaves one question: does this speech mean that Biden is an Epic Pass holder? In terms of Biden’s best speech moments, I’d place it a very distant second to this gem…
Image/Video Credits: The White House, AndreNets7
