There are many ways to measure the accessibility of a US president. One way is to count press conferences. At the moment, President Biden seems invisible.
CNN White House Reporter Kevin Liptak shared this remark with colleagues on Wednesday: “While we wait for the message when President Biden will hold his first solo press conference, an analysis of the past 100 years shows that he is behind his 15 most recent predecessors stand, all of which were held within 33 days of the adoption of a solo press conference. Liptak went through this university database to confirm the data.
Thursday is Biden’s 43rd day at the office. “While he has asked reporters several times, including during sprays and a more formal Q&A session after an event in January, he has not yet held a formal press conference,” Liptak said. “This includes either a solo press conference or a 2 + 2 news conference during his two virtual ‘bilateral’ meetings with the leaders of Canada and Mexico.”
What is Biden waiting for then? The approval of a bill on Covid, possible. The Katie Rogers of the NYT brought it up when I asked about the press conference drought over Sunday’s reliable sources.
After the broadcast, I hear from some viewers who say that the press corps should be more patient with Biden, in light of Trump’s bad treatment of the press. It is true that Trump has proven the limits of accessibility, as frequently asked questions and answers are hardly valuable if the answers are lies. But Trump is not the only benchmark for Biden – which is why I appreciated Liptak’s look back in time and showed that Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, Harry Truman and Herbert Hoover, to name just a few, will all be coming soon. had press staff. after he was sworn in …
The WH’s response
On Wednesday night, I asked Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary, if she had an answer to the remorse over a POTUS press. Psaki replied: ‘We look forward to holding a full formal press conference, but in the meantime the president regularly takes questions from the reporters discussing the White House, also this morning. And his focus day in and day out is to get the pandemic under control. control and put people back to work. This is what people chose him for. ‘
In my opinion, reporters are rightly pushing for more Q&A access, and they should not let go of the pressure. Biden should use the press conference institution to tell the public what he is doing …
Tucker’s coarse deformation
Here’s a classic example of how Fox’s Tucker Carlson took something legal and turned it into BS commentary. Questions about when Biden will hold a full-fledged press conference are legal – but
Wednesday night Carlson went further and said Biden refuses to speak directly to the media. Strange, as Fox White House reporter Peter Doocy spoke to Biden repeatedly this winter. This is not ‘silence’. Carlson mocks Biden’s public speech, saying he does not want to see a press after all: ‘It’s one thing to know that your country is led by a man in cognitive decline, it’s another thing to to see it, and we do not want to see it. ‘
For the record
– “Biden has a approval rating of 51% in a Monmouth U poll released on Wednesday,” down slightly from 54% at the end of January … (Fox)
– One of Wednesday’s biggest stories: “Biden agreed on a compromise with moderate Democrats to qualify for the next round of $ 1,400 stimulus checks …” (CNN)
The Trump admin referred a record number of classified leaks for criminal investigation, at least 334, according to a newly excavated DOJ document … (The Intercept)
From CNN’s fact-checking team: “In an opinion piece published on Wednesday, former VP Mike Pence did something he did earlier in office: a lie” from Trump “in a slightly more sophisticated way … “(CNN)
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