As Townhall has frequently highlighted, President Joe Biden almost always appears in a fake Oval Office/White House set that was built in an auditorium adjacent to the actual West Wing, raising questions about why the normal spaces used by presidents past weren't being used by Biden and other administration officials.
There was speculation that it was some COVID mitigation protocol, some White House sources said it was due to a lack of space for larger events with multiple officials, but it turns out Biden has been kept out of the Oval Office because the administration cannot permanently install a teleprompter there — according to a new report from Politico.
As their story on potential 2024 matchups notes in something of a buried lede:
...the White House has largely abandoned using the Oval Office for press events in part because it can’t be permanently equipped with a teleprompter; Biden aides prefer the fake White House stage built in the Old Executive Office Building next door for events, sacrificing some of the power of the historic backdrop in favor of an otherwise sterile room that was outfitted with an easily read teleprompter screen.
It makes sense that Biden staffers wouldn't want him going without a teleprompter when speaking, given his struggles and frequent gaffes even when his script is right in front of his eyes. But it's concerning that Biden, the supposed leader of the free world, is being kept from using his own office by aides in order to minimize the opportunity for bungling remarks that take the focus off what the White House is trying to emphasize. But it's not just the teleprompter issues that worry Biden insiders about the president's health and stamina ahead of 2024's presidential election less than halfway through his first term.
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Politico points out that a "bone he broke in his foot while playing with his dog in late November 2020 still occasionally bothers Biden, resulting in a slower and shorter gait" and there's uneasiness over the reality that if Biden "were to run again in 2024, it almost certainly would be a more rigorous campaign than the one he previously mounted. The outbreak of Covid kept Biden in his Delaware home for much of the 2020 general election campaign, sparing him the wear and tear of relentless travel," Politico explained.
So, Joe Biden is being kept in a fake White House for public events because his staffers can't trust him in the uncontrolled environment created by the teleprompter-less Oval Office as his approval continues to go lower than the basement in which Biden hid out during much of the 2020 campaign.
It's not news that the Biden administration isn't running smoothly or effectively, but it's always nice to see disarrayed Democrats covered for the mess that they are by mainstream outlets — even if Politico tried to bury it in the middle of a lengthy piece on another topic.
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