Although the mainstream media tends to be reluctant to shed any negative light on Democrats, on area that they sometimes make an exception for is when Democrats consistently steal bread from the mouth’s of the press by refusing to engage with them on a regular basis, particularly in formal settings such as at scheduled pressers and interviews where direct questions can be asked.
Different from “press sprays” where reporters show up to presidential functions but informally shout out questions at the president in a frantic effort to get his attention, real one-on-one interviews and organized press events used to be a mainstay of previous administrations, but not Biden’s.
Throughout Biden’s first year, his White House press secretary Jen Psaki, would claim that Biden’s gaffe responses to “press spray” style questions are a counter to the suggestion that Biden has failed to deliver on his former commitment to transparency, a key promise made during his 2020 campaign.
Although some in the media find these soundbyte table scraps acceptable, others do not, and the Associated Press demonstrated their frustration with the President’s behavior recently when they shed a spotlight on the press access issues that have plagued Biden’s presidency over the first quarter of his term. The data shared was gathered from Townson University’s White House Transition Project.
The report by Townson U explains that Biden’s measly 22 media interviews since taking office is the lowest on record than his predecessors. He’s also held a mere nine formal news conferences, again, close to zero compared to his contemporaries. Trump, by contrast, held 92 interviews in the first year of his term, with many lengthy sessions held with all major news outlets.
Here’s what that looks like in graphic form:
#JoeBiden Is Not Able To Read A Teleprompter Or Hold A Press Conference Where Questions Are Allowed. #Biden only appears on late-night comedy programs with comedians who serve up prearranged fat meatball pitches. pic.twitter.com/93ysFMoAAE
— Planet Ponzi (@PlanetPonzi) January 9, 2022
The Daily Mail published a similar piece which cited the AP’s information, and included this graphic:
Biden conducted fewer press conference than any of his five predecessors in Year One, according to new analysis https://t.co/Doq3HqHwyc
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) January 9, 2022
Attempting to soften the news, the AP laughably suggest that Biden’s hermit-like behavior is part of a purposeful strategy meant to increase his time on dealing with actual issues, rather than chatting with the media.
Unfortunately, the Biden White House appears to have no intention of changing the status quo on press access in 2022:
Joe Biden hasn’t held a press conference since November 2 — 68 days ago.
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 10, 2022
Author: Katherine Bryant
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