As President Joe Biden is facing calls to hold his first press conference more than a month after taking office, former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany says she told reporters they should not expect to get a lot of chances to ask the president questions.
During an appearance on Fox News on Monday, McEnany noted that former President Donald Trump held fewer press availabilities in his final days in office.
“I actually warned some of the reporters there in the press corps. In the waning days of the Trump administration, he didn’t do as much press availabilities every day as he walked to [Marine One] or those press conferences,” McEnany said.
She added, “I said to the correspondents, ‘You’re getting a little taste of what it will be like in the Biden administration.’ I said I wouldn’t expect to see much of him. We haven’t. We’re still waiting on that solo press conference, we’re still waiting for the day, apparently by the end of the month.”
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McEnany’s comments come as Biden is facing calls to hold a press conference as reporters note that his 15 immediate predecessors all held a press conference within 33 days of taking office.
In an op-ed on Sunday, The Washington Post’s editorial board urged Biden to hold a press conference, “Last month would have been better, and this week would be better than next. Avoiding news conferences must not become a regular habit for Mr. Biden. He is the president, and Americans have every right to expect that he will regularly submit himself to substantial questioning.”
It added that Biden could use a press conference to “advertise his more thoughtful, reality-based approach.”
The White House says the president is committed to holding a press conference by the end of the month.
