There were a couple of truly wild moments in Joe Biden press conference at the G7 in Italy.
First, there was his weird answer to a question about Hunter when he said, “I am satisfied that I’m not gonna do anything I said,” before saying he would abide by the jury decision and wouldn’t pardon his son. Well, yes, we know Biden doesn’t do what he says — nice he admits it. But what was he talking about there? What a strange remark. He subsequently also said he wouldn’t commute the sentence, according to reports.
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But another bizarre moment was when he snapped at a reporter for daring to ask a question about Hamas when the subject that Biden had prepared for was Ukraine and the G7.
That raised again the question of what kind of deals does he have going on when he says this; he calls on pre-selected reporters and then reads answers from notes, looking like he knows what question is coming. Previously Biden had indicated the “deal” he spoke about meant each reporter wouldn’t be asking multiple questions.
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But now White House Correspondents Association President NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell is weighing in with a statement. They’re not at all happy about what Biden said:
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“The White House Correspondents’ Association believes it is in the public interest to make clear that at a presidential press conference, at home or abroad, there are no preconditions regarding question topics.
“While the White House does determine the number of reporters the president will recognize, it is up to professional journalists to decide what to ask. Any leader may prefer that reporters ask only one question or ask only about a topic that is of most interest to the president or another world leader, but a free press functions independently.”
She added, “WHCA would welcome more opportunities to pose a range of questions to the president in a press conference setting.”
They appear to be throwing Biden under the bus by saying there are no “deals.” So in order to save face, they’re saying what Biden is telling us is not true. Oh, ok, so one more reason not to vote for him.
On the other hand, if we believe Biden that there are deals, that’s also problematic that such a thing is going on and Biden needs/wants such an accommodation. So either way, another reason not to vote for him. Yes, there are some times he might not have information but if he can’t answer questions on the fly, that’s a big problem.
I also can’t help but read the statement with a fine-tooth comb and note that while it says that the journalists “decide what to ask,” it doesn’t say the questions aren’t given to Biden or his team in advance. Although they do dispute any deals about the number of questions.
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Then the last part of the statement is so weak, saying they would welcome more opportunities for press conferences. Why not just say straight out he’s been ducking them and the people deserve answers? Such a milquetoast passive-aggressive little whine there, a “Please, sir, may I have another?” kind of response. They should be pushing for more, especially when media like the NY Times have complained in the past about Biden hiding from the media.
Neither the media nor Biden have a lot of credibility, so you take your pick here.