Though we’ve seen some evidence here and there of positive change at CNN, head honcho Chris Licht clearly still has a lot of work to do in cleaning up the network that was once appropriately nicknamed “Zuckerville” by its many critics.
As evidence, we turn to their White House correspondent Kate Bennett, who on CNN’s “Newsroom” program Monday put a pretty incredible spin on a written report she filed that noted Joe Biden had spent unusually large amounts of time at his home in contrast to past presidents at this point in their respective presidencies and could end up breaking the record for modern presidents in terms of “working from home” if he keeps up the pace.
Before we get to what Bennett had to say on “Newsroom,” here’s what she wrote in her story:
Some 21 months into his term, Biden has made 55 visits to Delaware, totaling some or all of 174 days as of Sunday, according to a CNN analysis of presidential schedules and a tally kept by Mark Knoller, the longtime unofficial statistician of the White House press corps. In addition, Biden has made 19 visits, or all or part of 64 days, to the Camp David presidential retreat in rural Maryland.
He has now surpassed even the getaway time of former President Donald Trump , so often criticized by Democrats for his regular departures from the White House to stay at one of his personal homes. At this point in his tenure, Trump had spent about 135 days at either his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, or his home at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Trump also had spent 23 days at Camp David.
Though the story on the CNN website was surprisingly fair and balanced considering their history, what wasn’t fair and balanced was Bennett’s spin on the story when she talked about it later in the day, suggesting that “Maybe Joe Biden just had a better idea of how to model [working from home] before we all did”:
The problem with this nauseatingly cheeky “analysis” is that it is wildly off the mark because though it’s true that Biden did spend most of his time at home during his time as a U.S. Senator, he’s President now and is expected to show the American people that he can handle the job, especially as questions continue to be raised about his ability to lead our nation considering his age and frequent bouts of forgetfulness, the latter of which dates back to well before he took office.
The administration’s defense of Biden spending so much time at home and so often is that he, like previous presidents, has a “mobile White House” of sorts wherever he goes, which means he’s never truly on vacation. But that, too, misses the point because at this stage in the game anyone who isn’t wearing rose-colored glasses when it comes to this president knows that it benefits him to be at home more than at the White House because he can avoid reporters far more often there than he can in Washington, D.C.
It’s like the basement strategy Biden’s handlers employed during the 2020 presidential campaign, except it’s gotten even worse because now he’s actually in a position to be making deeply consequential decisions that impact the lives of tens of millions.
He needs to make himself available to answer questions on a more consistent basis and not just through his press secretaries and other spokespeople and surrogates. But he won’t, because he knows that even with the occasional grumbling and groaning that comes from some in the White House press corps over the access issues they have with the POTUS, at the end of the day they’ll figure out a way to spin it as a net positive for him.
Just like Bennett did.
Flashback ->> Report: Panic on Set at CNN HQ as ‘Terrified’ Staffers Wonder Who Will Be Next