In Two Days, Trump Answered More Reporter Questions Than Biden Did In Four Years – And Without A Cheat Sheet
OK, we admit, we haven’t actually counted the number of reporters’ questions President Donald Trump has answered since being sworn in. And four years is certainly an exaggeration. In any case, someone covering the White House should keep track, because it won’t take long for Trump to beat Biden on this score.
Biden held the fewest number of press conferences of any modern president. He would answer questions only from pre-selected reporters. He had to have a cheat sheet with him at all times to give his answers, and even then the White House would often have to rush out to correct the record.
Biden’s first press conference wasn’t until March 2021 – and it was a disaster. As the BBC reported it:
Biden’s performance was more akin to a cautious walk across a not-quite-frozen lake. Every step was careful and calculated, lest an unexpected crack led to a dark, icy fate.
He relied heavily on notes and called from what appeared to be a pre-determined list of reporters – one that didn’t include Fox News or any other right-leaning outlets.
At one point, in an answer about the filibuster – an arcane Senate rule that has thwarted many a president’s ambitious agenda – Biden appeared to lose his train of thought, ending his sentence with the wave of a hand.
On Trump’s first day in the White House he answered reporters’ questions for 45 minutes while signing hundreds of executive orders. On Tuesday, he held an impromptu press conference after announcing a $500 billion investment in artificial intelligence, taking questions for half an hour.
And these weren’t softball questions from carefully selected friendly reporters. (Click on the image below to see for yourself.) Then Trump sat down for an extensive interview with Sean Hannity.
This isn’t a criticism of Biden (who cares about him anymore?) so much as it is of the mainstream press and its disgraceful eagerness to act like sheep around Democratic politicians and like rabid bulldogs toward Republicans.
Why would White House reporters put up with the limited access Biden granted them for four years? Why would they stand for the fact that whenever he’d make an announcement, he’d turn tail and run without taking questions? Why did reporters let White House harpies boss them around and block access to Biden at public events?
And, now, will anyone in the mainstream press acknowledge the difference in access between Biden and Trump? Or point out the significance of this shift to the public? Or credit Trump for being willing to mix it up with a hostile press?
The answers to all these questions are obvious, aren’t they? (Fox News’ Peter Doocy is the one exception.)
For the next four years, the corporate media will hound Trump the way they never did Biden. They will attack his every move, play up any dissent on his team, peddle unsubstantiated rumors as facts.
We want to believe that the media can be redeemed. And by that, we don’t mean bend the knee to Trump. But treat all politicians with equal suspicion. Report the facts honestly and fairly, no matter which party benefits. Do the job they are paid to do.
That’s how you restore trust in an institution that has lost all credibility with the public.
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