Biden Finally Announces Date for 1st Press Conference as President
The White House promised on Tuesday that President Joe Biden will finally face the media and hold a formal briefing at the end of March.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki dodged a question about a coming briefing when addressing reporters on Tuesday. Psaki was asked by a reporter if there was “any update on when the President will hold a press conference,” to which she still had nothing to say on the subject.
“Soon. Maybe I’ll have an update for you by the end of the day. We’ll see. By the end of the month. By the end of the month. I will see if we have landed a full date yet,” she said, according to an official White House transcript of her remarks.
In a surprise twist, the White House actually circled back on the issue with an answer and a date.
USA Today reported Biden will finally make himself available on March 25 — the 64th day into his presidency. The outlet noted that Biden’s predecessors all addressed reporters well within their first month on the job.
Former President Barack Obama answered questions after 20 days in office. Former President Donald Trump, meanwhile, took questions 27 days into his term in 2017.
Trump, of course, was always open to the establishment media — and the constant abuse from its reporters. Biden, despite having those same reporters in his pocket, has avoided answering questions while encountering them in public and has refrained from scheduling any briefings.
The saga has been so peculiar that even the Democratic lapdog media has begun to ask about the absent-minded, hermit president.
Last week, on Biden’s 51st day in office, the left-wing Washington Post began asking questions and even pointed out some startling statistics.
“After 50 days as president, Biden still hasn’t given a news conference. Critics and allies wonder why,” Post reporter Paul Farhi noted.“Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton both did their first one after just nine days in office. Barack Obama waited 20 days.”
“The seven-week stretch is the longest a new president has gone without meeting the press in the past 100 years, dating back to when Calvin Coolidge, a man known as ‘Silent Cal,’ was president,” Farhi added. “At this point in office, Trump had given five news conferences. Obama had given two, George W. Bush three and Clinton five.”
Reporters were already growing impatient as far back as March 5, when Psaki was asked at a White House media briefing when her boss would finally show his face. One reporter went as far as to press Psaki on the issue.
“So we’re 45 days into the Biden presidency, and he has yet to hold a presser. At this point in past presidencies, every president, you know, from Reagan, had addressed reporters — some of them multiple times. So why the delay, and when can we expect the president to hold a press conference?” Psaki was asked.
.@PressSec says that President Biden will hold a full press conference by the end of the month:
“We’re working on setting a final date for that.” pic.twitter.com/vxAYqcP4Qe
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 5, 2021
“We’re working on setting a final date for that,” the press secretary responded.
Now, that date is finally set, according to the Biden administration. The only troubling omission was that the White House did not specify if Biden’s inaugural media briefing will come this year, or next — or perhaps March 25 of another year.
At this point, such an omission to buy time for the obviously struggling Biden wouldn’t be the least bit surprising.
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