Ahead of President Joe Biden’s press conference, he is being called out for the few number of press conferences he gave in his first year in office.
On Tuesday, CNN’s John King said, “President Joe Biden holds a rare news conference tomorrow to reflect on his first year in office and to look ahead to the second.”
“I say rare because take a look, Mr. Biden holds far fewer formal press conferences than did the three presidents before him,” he added as he pointed out a graphic that compared the number of press conferences Biden gave compared to his predecessors.
By Dec. 20 of his first year in office, former President George W. Bush had delivered 14 press conferences. Former President Barack Obama and former President Donald Trump had given 16 press conferences and 21 press conferences by the same point in the presidencies, respectively.
“The president hits the one-year mark with slumping poll numbers and rising frustration within his Democratic Party,” King added.
Watch the video below:
CNN’s John King correctly points out how “rare” Biden has press conferences.
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 18, 2022
“Biden holds FAR FEWER formal press conferences than did the three presidents who came before him.” pic.twitter.com/UwrW4UL4C5
Last week, a reporter asked, “Maybe a press conference soon, Mr. President?”
“We look forward to that,” she added.
Biden responded, “Me too.”
REPORTER: "Maybe a press conference soon, Mr. President? We look forward to that."
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 13, 2022
*laughs*
BIDEN: "Me too." pic.twitter.com/mmQ1PruEqV
As the Associated Press (AP) notes, “The 46th president has held just nine formal news conferences — six solo and three jointly with visiting foreign leaders. Ronald Reagan, whose schedule was scaled back early in his first term in 1981 after an assassination attempt, is the only recent president to hold fewer first-year news conferences.”
Additionally, Biden gave just 22 interviews which is less than the last six of his predecessors at the same point in their presidencies.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has argued that formal press conferences are not necessary for reporters to ask Biden questions. However, the AP points out that informal exchanges with Biden “often don’t allow for follow-up questions, and Biden can ignore questions he might not want to answer.”
