Breaking Tradition: Biden Has Yet to Host Press Conference

Going longer than 15 of his most recent predecessors, President Biden is nearing 50 days into his presidency without holding a press conference. While many reporters are getting restless, CNN’s Brian Stelter is the lone voice running defense for Biden.

Nearing the two-month mark for his administration, President Joe Biden has yet to conduct a press conference.

Having gone longer than Trump, Obama, Bush 43, Clinton, Bush 41 and Reagan before hosting a press conference, the White House strategy is apparently to “limit unforced errors from a historically gaffe-prone politician.”
As questions about Biden’s availability have increasingly been asked, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki pushed back, saying Biden remains available for a few questions “regularly” after events, and that his focus is all about coronavirus.
The White House ruffled reporters’ feathers last month when the communications office asked journalists to submit their questions in advance of daily briefings.
More questions were raised after an online event hosted by the White House abruptly ended and the video feed cut after Biden went off script and offered to take questions from reporters, video of which has gone viral online.

CNN’s media reporter and media bias apologist Brian Stelter posits Biden is waiting for the passage of his massive Covid relief bill while parroting “a few viewers’” concerns saying “the press corps should be more patient with Biden” because “ORANGE MAN BAD.”
Mediaite highlighted Psaki’s obfuscations while being pressed by an AP reporter, in which Psaki gets defensive and uses the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse for Biden’s lack of availability.

OANN’s report compared Biden’s lack of availability to former President Trump having hosted press conferences nearly every day during much of the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
While Fox News repeated facts most other outlets used, the network highlighted remarks from competitor CNN’s Jake Tapper who took to Twitter to bemoan Biden’s lack of availability.
Breitbart’s coverage of the lack of press availability noted it “fits a pattern of behavior exhibited by his staff during the presidential campaign”, with “reduced public engagement.”

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