Democrat President Joe Biden will finally give his first press conference next week after avoiding the practice since getting into office, setting a modern day record.
The announcement comes after the White House faced increasing criticism from both right-wing and left-wing publications over Biden not holding press conferences.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that Biden will give the news conference on March 25, more than two full months after taking office.
ABC News responded to claims from Psaki that Biden has “done about 40 Q&As since he took office” by reporting:
But those exchanges are often devoid of any meaningful back-and-forth, and typically last just seconds.
The president sometimes responds to one or two short questions — if that — while White House staff members yell, “Thank you!” and “Let’s go!” as they usher the journalists out.
“I’m sorry, can’t hear him,” Biden said on Thursday as his aides screamed over a reporter and pushed the press out of the room. The president did not answer the question.
The Washington Post reported last week that at as of four days ago, Trump had already given five news conferences by this point in his presidency while Obama had given two, George W. Bush three, and Clinton five.
“Avoiding news conferences must not become a regular habit for Mr. Biden. He is the president, and Americans have every right to expect that he will regularly submit himself to substantial questioning,” The Washington Post’s Editorial Board wrote separately. “Though Mr. Biden regularly answers a smattering of questions after making announcements or other events, Post media critic Erik Wemple points out that these often perfunctory exchanges are no substitute for formal, solo news conferences at which reporters can ask follow-up questions, answers are supposed to be more than a couple of words long, and the president’s thoughts on a wide range of issues can be mined.”
Two former press secretaries — Kayleigh McEnany and Dana Perino — said that it was a mistake to announce a press conference in advance and that it’s a better idea to announce it that day.
Exactly right! 💯 https://t.co/fjovgpWUEH
— Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) March 16, 2021
McEnany said that Biden avoiding the media was effectively the same “basement strategy” that he deployed during the campaign. “I think his staff does not have faith that he can stand at the podium and have a press conference the way President Trump did many times,” she said. “I don’t think this is President Biden saying, ‘I don’t want to do this.’ I think it’s those around him recognizing when he does speak, it doesn’t always turn out so well, like calling Republicans ‘Neanderthals,’ as he did recently in the Oval Office.”
The press conference comes as North Korea has ignored outreach attempts by the Biden administration; Biden’s son is under federal criminal investigation for possible tax fraud and money laundering; Biden is watching a border crisis unfold on his watch; and he has faced renewed criticism about his fitness for office.