I hope you enjoyed your popcorn, folks. 78-year-old President Joe Biden temporarily left the basement, and it sure wasn’t pretty.
On Thursday, Biden delivered the first press conference in all of the 64 days of his presidency. In one hour, the president spoke to a 25 reporter-capped press pool about the ongoing migrant crisis at the southern border, gun control in the wake of the Atlanta and Colorado shootings, relations with China, the filibuster, running for president in 2024, and other topics.
The president side-stepped on nearly every topic, more focused on concluding the presser as soon as possible than providing substantive answers. It was predominantly a Democratic lovefest, with PBS White House reporter Yamiche Alcindor asking Biden at one point if he is too “moral” and “decent.”
The 64-day mark makes Biden the first president since 1932 to not hold a solo press conference in the first 43 days of his presidency. Donald Trump held a conference 27 days in, and Barack Obama did so only 20 days in.
Biden Press Secretary Jen Psaki appeared particularly unaware of how historically significant this is. Psaki claimed in January that the administration was “bringing truth and transparency back to the briefing room” and “rebuilding trust with the American people.” Breaking a 100-year precedent was a funny way of doing so.
The president did not call on any conservative reporters. Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy—who frequently questions Psaki—was not provided the opportunity to probe. Reporters from Associated Press, PBS, The Washington Post, ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, and Univision all got their turn to pander.
On March 19, Biden fell three consecutive times walking up the stairs of Air Force One. It was sad. Truly, one can only feel bad for the elderly and frail man we now have to call the president. Nonetheless, this notable event—along with a whole other swath of topics—such as the bombshell Politico story published on Hunter Biden, or the failed reopening of schools and the country, were not even broached. Biden was not challenged, but caressed and fondled by the morally bankrupt media.
Biden’s fall makes perfect sense in light of his gobbledygook performance in the presser. At one point, the president refused to answer a question from CNN Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins on whether he will eliminate the filibuster.
“I answered your question,” Biden mumbled, after verifiably not doing so, slumping off into an all-too-familiar gaffe. Prior to Collins standing up to ask one of her two questions, Biden said, “that counts as a question,” laughing awkwardly and thus demonstrating he was taking all steps possible to avoid being held accountable.
The president chuckled at uncomfortable questions. “C’mon!” he said to Cecelia Vega of ABC News, smirking when pushed on the surge in minors being held near the border. Biden likewise chuckled when NBC’s Kristen Welker asked about both Biden’s repealing of Trump policies to deter illegal immigration and North Korea’s launching of two ballistic missiles into the sea of Japan.
His voice rose and fell at the drop of a hat. He started talking about “computer chips” when CBS’s Nancy Cordes asked him about his fractured relationship with Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky—but soon after moved on to rambling about God knows what.
“I have never been particularly poor at calculating how to get things done in the United States Senate. So the best way to get something done, if you, if you hold near and dear to you that you like to be able to, anyway,” Biden sputtered to Yamiche Alcindor on the filibuster.
Biden operated in an awkward hostility all throughout. He seemed shocked that the press—his leftist comrades—would have the nerve to ask him any questions at all, even if they were by no means challenging. They were soft-balls. But for a president in apparent cognitive decline, they did not appear so. The pauses between his answers were only worsened by the fact that the questions were so very straightforward and easy for him if he could only remember what the questions were.
By the end of the cringe-worthy hour, it was time for Biden to pack up ship and be shuttered away in the basement again by his top aides. Psaki eyed him in the corner, taking notes on a pad. Biden checked his $9,650 Rolex near the end to ensure things were wrapping up nicely.