There’s no secret why right? Biden is terrible in front of the media when they start asking him questions. It’s when he gets himself in the most trouble. His answers are often at odds with himself, or with those around him in noticeable and substantive ways.
During his first year, Biden has given fewer press conferences than Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, or George H. W. Bush did. In fact, only Ronald Reagan held fewer press conferences in his first, but that’s mainly because he survived a gunshot wound in an assassination attempt so his public events were severely curtailed for a period of time. Reagan still managed to hold more interviews in his first year than Biden, despite the circumstances.
It’s certainly not because there is a lack of issues facing the country, Covid aside, the country is facing record inflation, a failure in Afghanistan that still reverberates, and ongoing issues with mandates, the economy, and supply chain issues.
Biden has a buffet of topics to address, yet he and his handlers choose to keep him tucked away behind the White House walls:
In Year One, President Biden has only given nine formal press conferences – six solo and three jointly with visiting foreign leaders. He has also conducted 22 media interviews.
By comparison, at this point in their respective presidencies Donald Trump conducted 21 press conferences, Barack Obama was at 27, George W. Bush at 19, Bill Clinton at 38 and George H. W. Bush at 31.
The dismal showing from Biden only furthers speculation that the president is not running the show at the White House, which is fueled by Biden’s continued comments during public appearances that his press team doesn’t want him speaking to members of the media.
Biden has done just 22 media interviews, fewer than any of his six most recent White House predecessors at the same point in their presidencies.
These interviews included one-on-one sessions with journalists at three of the major television networks, three CNN town halls, an appearance on MSNBC, a trio of regional television interviews via Zoom, as well as conversations with late night host Jimmy Fallon and ESPN’S Sage Steele.
He’s given just three print interviews.
There’s a lot of room between the extreme end of Trump, who enjoyed interviews and press conferences, and the opposite extreme of Biden, who shuns all questions and journalists in general.
The question was often asked during the 2020 campaign concerning how long Biden could go on like this, avoiding the press and taking few interviews. Apparently, much longer than anyone expected. Part of that is due to a willing media, that wants Biden to succeed no matter how badly he’s performing. They’re willing to wink and nod at the fact that the man’s not all there, and he often contradicts himself day to day on various issues.
The interesting observation here is how often Biden says things like, “I’m not supposed to take any more questions,” before he walks away from the podium:
In what’s become a familiar scene, President Joe Biden lingered after delivering a recent speech on the pandemic as reporters fired a barrage of questions.
He bristled at a query about the shortage of COVID-19 rapid tests, answered another about omicron-spurred travel restrictions and sidestepped a third about whether Sen. Joe Manchin failed to keep his word when he torpedoed Biden’s social services and climate spending plan.
“I’m not supposed to be having this press conference right now,” Biden said at the end of a meandering response that didn’t directly answer the question about Manchin.
Seconds later, Biden turned and walked out of the State Dining Room, abruptly ending what’s become his preferred method for his limited engagements with the press.
Who tells Biden he’s not supposed to take questions or limit his Q&A time to one or two friendly reporters? Biden’s advisors know he can’t be trusted to do anything beyond reading the teleprompter and promptly exiting the room.
The problem is endemic of this presidency which was designed as a stepping-stone to someone beyond Biden. That person was supposed to be Kamala Harris, but her numbers are more gruesome than Biden’s numbers, so who’s the next stone for progressive Democrats in 2024? Biden’s clearly not cut out for this job.
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