OK, we admit, we haven’t actually counted the number of reporters’ questions President Donald Trump has answered since being sworn in. And four years is certainly an exaggeration. In any case, someone covering the White House should keep track, because it won’t take long for Trump to beat Biden on this score.
Biden held the fewest number of press conferences of any modern president. He would answer questions only from pre-selected reporters. He had to have a cheat sheet with him at all times to give his answers, and even then the White House would often have to rush out to correct the record.
Biden’s first press conference wasn’t until March 2021 – and it was a disaster. As the BBC reported it:
Biden’s performance was more akin to a cautious walk across a not-quite-frozen lake. Every step was careful and calculated, lest an unexpected crack led to a dark, icy fate.
He relied heavily on notes and called from what appeared to be a pre-determined list of reporters – one that didn’t include Fox News or any other right-leaning outlets.
At one point, in an answer about the filibuster – an arcane Senate rule that has thwarted many a president’s ambitious agenda – Biden appeared to lose his train of thought, ending his sentence with the wave of a hand.
On Trump’s first day in the White House he answered reporters’ questions for 45 minutes while signing hundreds of executive orders. On Tuesday, he held an impromptu press conference after announcing a $500 billion investment in artificial intelligence, taking questions for half an hour.
And these weren’t softball questions from carefully selected friendly reporters. (Click on the image below to see for yourself.) Then Trump sat down for an extensive interview with Sean Hannity. […]
— Read More: issuesinsights.com
