Biden REFUSES to take questions from American reporters and tells Boris Johnson ‘good luck’ when he says he wants to answer ‘just a couple’ of queries from the press before White House aides interrupt the British PM to clear journalists from Oval Office
- President Joe Biden did not call on any American reporter during his Oval Office meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson
- Johnson called on three British reporters to ask questions
- As reporters were ushered from room, Biden was asked about images of migrants at border being whipped
- ‘Violence is not justified,’ Biden appeared to say but the rest of his response was not decipherable as his aides shouted down reporters and ushered them out
- In the Oval Office sit down, Johnson took control of the meeting, calling on British reporters for questions that he and Biden answered
- No American reporters were called upon during exchange
- Reporters complained to White House press secretary Jen Psaki
- It’s Johnson’s first trip to the White House, a visit he never made during Donald Trump’s presidency
Joe Biden on Tuesday did not recognize any American reporters for questions during an Oval Office meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his aides cleared out journalists as they tried to query the president.
Biden did attempt to answer one shouted question from a CBS reporter about the crisis on the Southern border but his answer was unclear when White House staff shouted down reporters, covering the president’s attempt to respond as they demanded journalists leave.
‘Violence is not justified,’ Biden appeared to say but the rest of his response was not decipherable.
White House staff even interrupted Johnson as they pushed to get reporters out of the room, shouting over the British prime minister as he and Biden sat in their chairs, watching the chaotic scene unfold as aides ushered journalists out of the Oval Office.
As reporters were ushered out, CBS White House reporter Ed O’Keefe shouted a question to Biden asked about the situation on the U.S.-Mexico border. The administration is facing backlash and criticism following images of U.S. Border Patrol agents on horseback using whips to round up migrants or prevent them from stepping onto American soil.
But White House aides yelled ‘thank you’ and ‘let’s go’ to the press in the room, herding them out as Biden appeared to try and address the issue. Between the shouting of his aides and the president’s wearing a face mask, it was impossible to make out the majority of what Biden said.
The president seemed to know what he and the prime minister where in for when he wished Johnson ‘good luck’ after the prime minister said the two leaders would take a few questions.
‘I think we will take a couple of questions, just a couple of people,’ Johnson said.
‘Good luck,’ Biden responded.
Johnson then took control, calling on three British reporters for questions that he and Biden answered. The president did not call on a single reporter.
With no American reporter called upon and, as White House staff said it was time to go, the U.S. journalists started shouting questions at Biden and Johnson. That is when aides shouted them down.
‘I think that’s it,’ Johnson quipped as the aides shouted at reporters and journalists shouted questions.
After reporters were pulled from the Oval Office, a group of American reporters making up the ‘pool’ – the small group of journalists that follow the president to represent the entire press crops – went into White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki’s office to give her a formal complaint about the situation.
‘The entire editorial component of the US pool went immediately into Jen Psaki’s office to register a formal complaint that no American reporters were recognized for questions in the president’s Oval Office,’ noted CBS radio correspondent Steve Portnoy in his report. Portnoy is also president of the White House Correspondents Association. ‘And that wranglers loudly shouted over the president as he seemed to give an answer to Ed O’Keefe’s question about the situation at the Southern Border. Biden’s answer could not be heard over the shouting.’
‘Psaki was unaware that the incident has occurred and suggested that she was not in a position to offer an immediate solution,’ Portnoy’s report continued. ‘Your pooler requested a press conference. Psaki suggested the president takes questions several times a week.’
Somethings wrong with this dude. And I mean @JoeBiden. https://t.co/QkBqrRjFQo
— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) September 22, 2021