Aides to President Biden hurried away the traveling press force as they yelled questions to an unresponsive commander in chief in Washington on Tuesday – his 48th day in office without holding a solo press conference.
The incident occurred towards the end of a visit by Biden to WS Jenks & Son, a hardware store in the country’s capital that benefited from its temporary extension for smaller businesses of the Paycheck Protection Program.
After watching Biden interact quietly with store owners and employees for about 10 minutes, reporters began shouting a series of questions to him in vain.
Immediately afterward, the 46th president’s escorts began to shout back assertively, “Come on, press, you must go,” as the entire group of reporters were quickly removed from the scene.
Standing about 5 to 5 meters from the press pole, Biden did not flinch or answer any of the myriad of shouted questions, including one about the burgeoning immigration crisis on the southern border.
Tuesday not only marks the 48th day of Biden’s presidency, it also marks the longest day a commander in chief has been in recent memory without holding a solo press conference.
Biden outlasts its 15 most recent predecessors – going back 100 years – without answering press questions on the more official forum.
According to CNN’s analysis of data from the American Presidency Project, all 15 past presidents held a solo press conference within 33 days of taking office.
President Donald Trump held his first solo press conference 27 days after taking office, while President Barack Obama held on to it for 20 days.
Biden, meanwhile, has neglected to hold onto one, and that doesn’t seem to change for the foreseeable future.
When White House press secretary Jen Psaki was printed on the matter at a briefing on Friday, he argued that the president was too busy managing the “historic crises” associated with COVID-19. pandemic.
He has answered questions. I believe that count is nearly 40 times, ”she said. And I would say his focus, again, is on getting recovery and relief for the American people and he looks forward to staying with all of you and members of the – other members of the media who are not here today and we’ll be happy to let you know as soon as the press conference has started. ”
The commander-in-chief spoke briefly with reporters before boarding the presidential plane and answered some press inquiries after making public statements about the coronavirus and other matters.
However, he has not only dealt with journalists since he became leader of the free world.
A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment on the president’s refusal to hold a briefing.