President Joe Biden postponed his first press conference to celebrate the approval of the massive aid package to mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus. But in Thursday’s question-and-answer session, you’re bound to come under pressure over all sorts of challenges that have emerged since then.
A few mass shootings, mounting international tensions, the first signs of division within the Democratic Party and a growing number of migrants crossing the southern border face a White House known for its messaging discipline.
Biden is the first president in four decades to reach this point in his tenure without holding a formal question-and-answer session. He will meet with reporters for the evening event to be broadcast nationally from the East Room of the White House.
“It is an opportunity for him to speak to the American people, directly through the coverage of course, directly through all of you,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Tuesday. “And so I think he’s thinking about what he wants to say, what he wants to convey, where he can provide updates and, you know, the ability to communicate with a free press.”
He will appear a day after Vice President Kamala Harris’s appointment to lead the government response to the situation at the US-Mexico border, where the government faces a growing humanitarian and political challenge that threatens to overshadow Biden’s legislative agenda.