Reporters trying to ask President Joe Biden a question got an interesting response.
On Monday, video showed Biden sitting in the Oval Office as reporters were shouting questions at him. One reporter asked, “Are you worried the war…”
However, the president cut her off, yelling something apparently intentionally incoherent.
He then turned away from reporters with a smile on his face and declined to answer her questions.
Watch the video below:
The moment led to a deluge of reactions, with users on X questioning what happened:
During a press conference at the G-7 summit in Italy, Biden criticized reporters for asking about Israel’s war against Hamas instead of Russia’s war in Ukraine, saying he wished reporters would “play by the rules a little bit.”
After the exchange, the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) said in a statement, “The White House Correspondents’ Association believes it is in the public interest to make clear that at a presidential press conference, at home or abroad, there are no preconditions regarding question topics.”
“While the White House does determine the number of reporters the president will recognize, it is up to the professional journalists to decide what to ask,” it continued.
Finally, the statement read, “Any leader may prefer that reporters ask only one question or ask only about a topic that is of most interest to the president or another world leader, but a free press functions independently.”
“WHCA would welcome more opportunities to pose a range of questions to the president in a press conference setting,” it added.
