Joe Biden’s first presidential press conference was notable for what was missing after predecessor Donald Trump, writes Davids Bauder for the Associated Press: no controversial exchanges with journalists, no Fox News, and no questions about Covid- 19. The last omission was probably the least expected.
Many of the media had been impatient as Biden had not undergone a formal question and answer session with reporters until his 65th day in office. When it finally did on Thursday, it aired live on major cable and news networks.
Before asking a question, Biden announced that he was setting a new goal: to administer 200 million doses of coronavirus vaccine during his first 100 days in office.
And that was all. None of the ten journalists who interviewed him, some on various topics, raised the issue. Noting that in a tweet, Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times said the questions “suggest that the coronavirus is no longer topic A.”
“It’s pretty sure it’s for the American people and for the White House of Biden,” White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain responded to Twitter.
Four questions raised immigration and the Mexican border, while three asked about the filibuster, the arcane Senate rule that will be key to passing legislation. A few months into office, Biden was asked if he would run for re-election and if Vice President Kamala Harris would have his ticket.
Biden occasionally was direct, occasionally windy, and occasionally deceptive in answer to questions. When a Bloomberg reporter asked specific questions about economic policy and China, Biden undertook a lengthy verbal treatise on relations between the two countries.
A question about gun control became a lengthy discussion about the president’s infrastructure plans.
Some journalists, noting the likelihood of being called back, while Biden consulted a list so that journalists could ask questions, made inquiries on various topics, a practice that rarely produces results and often infuriates the viewer.
Although former President Trump’s sessions with journalists sometimes included unpleasant exchanges, there was nothing with Biden. Although he was sometimes pressured, like when NBC’s Kristen Welker tried, unsuccessfully, to fix Biden on media access to the Mexican border, there was nothing particularly hard.
With only ten journalists summoned, some were left out. This quickly became a problem on Fox, where the headline “Biden Snubs Fox News during First News Conf” appeared on the screen.