For a second time in so many weeks, President Joe Biden has indicated to reporters that he is speaking to them longer than someone else seems to have told him to.
While addressing Hamas’ recent rocket attacks on Jerusalem and Israel’s retaliatory missile strikes from the White House on Wednesday, President Biden told reporters they were “bad” and that he couldn’t resist their questions even though he was “supposed” to leave the news conference.
“You guys are bad. I’m not supposed to be answering all these questions. I’m supposed to leave, but I can’t resist your questions,” he appeared to quip as he returned, smiling, to his podium to address the reporters.
BIDEN: "You guys are bad. I'm not supposed to be answering all these questions. I'm supposed to leave but I can't resist your questions." pic.twitter.com/98a6CzJTjk
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) May 12, 2021
Just two weeks ago, Biden said he was “gonna be in trouble” as he returned to his podium, having already tried to leave a news conference.
“I’m sorry. This is the last question I’ll take. I’m really gonna be in trouble,” he told reporters.
BIDEN: "I'm really gonna be in trouble" if I answer more questions pic.twitter.com/1JO2LUw9FY
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) April 27, 2021
And just one week ago, White House press secretary Jen Psaki admitted to David Axelrod’s podcast that she didn’t “recommend” Biden’s readiness to answer reporter’s questions.
She explained that Biden’s habit of generously taking questions from reporters “nearly every day” is actually “not something we recommend.”
“In fact, a lot of times we say ‘Don’t take questions,’” she added, stunningly. “But he’s going to do what he wants to do because he’s the president of the United States.”
If Biden is going to do what he wants, why does he keep making comments to reporters about how he’s not supposed to be talking to them too much?
I mean … he knows we can hear him, right? Are these jokes, or cries for help?!
Biden does indeed seem unable to help himself from taking reporters’ questions when given the opportunity, and yet he failed to give a solo news conference, setting a well over 100-year record for how long a president has gone without doing so.
When he finally gave one, he had notes in his hands as well as cards to indicate which reporters he should call on, which is simply not common practice for a president to do during a news conference.
His staffers have literally shooed reporters away from him and the White House once cut his live feed when he offered to take questions from House Democrats during a virtual conference.
Then, on Wednesday, a report dropped revealing the Biden administration frequently requires that it be allowed to approve quotes before they are published when it agrees to allow officials to be interviewed.
It’s really hard to deny that a lot of people in the White House do not want Biden to be speaking to the media, especially when he’s flat-out telling us he’s not supposed to be talking to them for very long.
