![]() ![]() That doesn’t mean Biden shouldn’t do more press conferences. It was simple and routine enough that the media might not clamor for his next press conference as much as this first one. In the end, there were no eye-popping, jaw-dropping, head-scratching moments. Turns out, Biden turned high risk into modest rewards. According to tracking by CNN, immigration was the most-discussed topic, accounting for 19 minutes of the 62-minute press conference.īefore it even started, CNN’s Jake Tapper put it well when he called presidential press conferences “high stakes for every president. But other topics did, such as immigration, the filibuster and voting rights, foreign policy (especially around China) and infrastructure. The White House argued that Biden is doing such a good job with COVID-19 that there is nothing for the press to ask. New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman tweeted, “There’s a reason to express concern about a president not doing press conferences, but no question on covid or specifics on gun control is hard to fathom.” What else could he possibly say? Besides, weren’t there more pressing topics at the moment than a presidential election that is years away? Even if he, deep down, has no plans to run, there’s no way he would ever admit to it, and thus be a lame-duck president with more than three-and-a-half years still left in his first term. ![]() Zero questions about COVID-19 and more than one time-wasting question about whether Biden would run for president in 2024. Over the course of 62 minutes on Thursday, the Covid-19 pandemic never arose, except for in the president’s remarks at the start of the event, touting the accomplishments his administration has made in the U.S.’s yearlong fight. The media did ask some solid questions, but in what ways did it drop the ball? Anita Kumar summed it up well in the opening two paragraphs of her piece for Politico:ĭuring the first news conference of his presidency, Joe Biden was never asked about the defining crisis of this generation and, in all likelihood, his time in office. In fact, the headline on Rubin’s column was, “Biden excels at his first news conference. She also wrote, “The media did not distinguish themselves.” Biden spoke in great detail and length to show not only his mastery of the issues but also to suck tension and conflict out of the room.” In her column for the Post, Rubin wrote, “Try as they might to seem ‘tough,’ the media did not succeed in knocking Biden off message. ![]() Well, here’s what Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin tweeted after it was over: That especially goes for some of the folks at Fox News, who practically lost their minds that Biden didn’t call on Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy to ask a question. But, predictably, many of those who lean right picked apart Biden’s press conference in order to paint him as bumbling, stumbling and generally incompetent. Most seemed to think Biden did just fine. How Biden did likely depends on your politics. You know, like the kind we used to have before Donald Trump’s combative and chaotic ones. He answered questions about a variety of topics and answered them competently enough that it turned into your regular old ordinary presidential news conference. Which is probably exactly the way Biden wanted it. President Joe Biden held his much-anticipated first press conference as president on Thursday and if you were waiting for some blockbuster news or earth-shattering moment, you likely were left disappointed.Īs should have been expected, it was perfectly ordinary. As we close out another very busy week in media, let’s look back at some of the bigger media stories of the week as I offer my two cents on media coverage and stories, starting with Joe Biden’s first press conference. ![]()
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