Something That Matters
The relationship between the White House Press Corps and the Biden Administration is unraveling a bit. It’s not as bad as during the Trump years—I cannot think of another time when the media will be so predisposed against a president, unless it’s a second Trump Administration—but there is a decided shift.
And much of it comes from the top, the President’s tone and demeanor toward questions that he doesn’t like. It’s one thing to call names when the questioner—both male and female—represented Fox News; it’s still inappropriate. But now the President is flat out demanding certain types of questions.
Recall not long ago that he would not answer questions about a bad economic report because the photo op for which media had gathered was on another topic; “I only want to talk about happy things today,” the chief executive said at the time. On another, he told reporters on the plane that if they wrote about the event the White House was staging, then he’d give them something on the plane ride back.
Now, as the Washington Post has called the President’s behavior in Saudi Arabia “shameful,” the President dismisses the question by saying, “Why don’t you guys talk about something that matters? I’m happy to answer a question that matters.”
Guessing it matters to the family of the dead journalist, whose killing was supposedly ordered by the same crown prince Biden fist-bumped…after saying during the campaign that he’d treat the nation as a pariah.
When asked about stories that some Democrats don’t want him to run again, he maintained that Democrats want him to run, and then snapped, “Read the polls, Jack. You guys are all the same.” Of course, he was ignoring the polls that said—wait for it—an unusually large number of Democrats want someone else in 2024.
For just a moment, it seemed that president 45 and president 46 have one thing in common—asserting that “fake news” dominates these days. Clearly not something this president is used to, or likes. How the relationship goes from here will be interesting to watch.
