OPINION

Biden Once Again Exposes His Relationship With White House Correspondents

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Jun 18, 2024
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

As the election season churns ahead, it is becoming more obvious the Democrats, and the campaign officials, are facing a mounting challenge. The reality is Joe Biden is diminishing before the eyes of America, and this leads to perplexing reactions from officials who need to explain away what is becoming more obvious. 

Over the past week, there have been multiple examples of Biden embodying the term doddering; his odd 10-second attempt at sitting down at the G7 Summit, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni needing to corral him during a gathering, and this weekend’s stage display where he froze up at the fundraiser before being led off by Barack Obama. It has all become so bad that the handlers and the compliant press are in a full-scale drive to tell us these instances are all “fake,” videos that the dastardly Republicans have manipulated.

Don’t believe your lying eyes, is literally their strategy today.

There has been another instance where Biden’s squirrelly actions and undisciplined words forced the hand of a different group. The White House Correspondents Association has come out with a statement following yet another blunder by Biden while in Europe. During a press conference appearance (the likes of which are becoming a regular source of malaprops) the president was asked a question regarding Israel and Gaza, and this led to Joe snapping at the reporter.

This sounded like a clear indication that the president has arrangements set up with the press, something long speculated as a result of the evidence seen over the years. This latest example not only reinforced the belief that Biden pressers are scripted, almost choreographed affairs, but it was egregious enough that the White House Correspondents Association was compelled to issue a commentary.

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WHCA President, NBC journalist Kelly O’Donnell, sent out a response following Biden’s comments. 

Some of the reactions in the media to this made the letter appear to be a harsh commentary. It was said the WHCA “fired back,” “hammers Biden” and other bold interpretations. In truth, the letter is not exactly a condemnation of the president nor his comments; it feels more like a response they have become forced to make for the sake of optics, but in the end the denials ring hollow.

From early in his term there have been instances of it becoming revealed Biden was being prepped for press appearances. There have been multiple instances of Biden exposing notecards he has been given containing reporters' names and even their pictures, indicating an arranged process. At times Biden has called on reporters for a question without recognizing where they are, a sign he was instructed prior on who he would address. 

In perhaps the most revealing example, in April of last year, during a press conference with South Korea’s president, one such card was captured by cameras that completely exposed the game. On the card it laid out the entire scripted presser: It read “Question #1,” included the name of Los Angeles Times reporter Courtney Subramanian along with her picture, and had her question written out as well as Biden’s answers. Sure enough, she was initially called upon, and while her question was not spoken verbatim to the cheat sheet wording, it was the same question.

When asked about this unique revelation the LA Times issued a weak denial, deflecting the move onto the White House, despite their reporter being named, featured, scheduled, and her query being known prior. Karine Jean-Pierre denied any coordination had taken place, so the reporter, the paper, the White House, and the WHCA all pretend this deeply detailed process was purely coincidental. It is an insult to pragmatic thinkers.

Longtime White House correspondent Jon Decker was not satisfied with any of the explanations, becoming rather candid when he spoke with Voice Of America about this specific incident. 

"I've never seen an instance where the president is being given a question from a reporter that covers the president at a pre-announced White House press conference. It really reflects poorly on the White House press corps, and it reflects poorly on the White House for allowing that to happen. It seems like there's collusion, and for the public that has distrust, skepticism and even disdain for the media, it doesn't put us in a good light."

This is hardly a one-off incident as well, since the prepared exchanges have been seen almost from the start of Biden’s term, all the way up to this recent example in Europe. O’Donnell and the WHCA would like for us to see her response as a solid condemnation of errant words spoken by the president. Those comments by Biden were not an innocuous slip of the tongue, they are a result of conditioning -- the track record of that cooperative relationship with WHCA members is evident. 

This letter of response from President O'Donnell was not professional commentary, but compulsory – it is the WHCA in CYA mode.