NASHVILLE – People in Nashville took note of President Biden’s growing rift with the White House press corps and the transparency of his administration since taking office.
“He doesn’t answer any questions,” one man, David, told Fox News. “Honestly, I don’t think he’s in charge of the country.”
Kerry, however, said: “I think we still have all the information we need. Maybe he’s just not looking for the spotlight as much as others may have.”
AMERICANS SAY BIDEN IS ‘AVOIDING QUESTIONS’:
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The White House press corps grew frustrated with the president after learning he would forego a formal press conference during his four-day trip to Ireland this week. Biden has held just 23 press conferences since taking office, compared to 41 for President Trump, 53 for President Obama and 45 for President Bush at this point in their administrations.
“I think he’s avoiding a lot of open questions,” Pete told Fox News.
Another man, Robert, said: “Nobody knows what’s going on anymore.”
“The press corps travels with him, right?” David said. “I think all the media are getting frustrated, because they can’t report anything.”
Reporters blasted Biden’s lack of transparency at a news conference Monday, with one reporter asking if the administration was “trying to shield the president” from his questions.
“Absolutely not. Absolutely not,” responded press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
REPORTERS LISTEN ABOUT JEAN-PIERRE ON BIDEN NOT ANSWER QUESTIONS FROM PRESS GROUP: ‘THIS IS NOT TRUE’
Robert criticized Biden’s transparency as president, saying “nobody really knows what’s going on anymore.” (Fox News)
“Certainly, the president, many times, has stood in front of all of you, asked questions on his own because he wanted to see what you thought… This has happened many, many times, during this administration. And that will undoubtedly continue to be the case. When it comes to a formal press conference, I have nothing to share with you at this time,” he said.
Michael, who was visiting Nashville from Connecticut, said the press secretary’s response was “laughable.”
“They won’t let him talk to anybody, do any interviews. Donald Trump answered so many questions. Biden won’t answer anything,” he said.
“I think we all know he doesn’t run the show,” said another man, Matt. “His handlers handle pretty much everything he does.“
Biden has held fewer press conferences than his previous four predecessors at this point in his presidency. (AP/Alex Brandon)
“Obviously, he seems engaged to some extent,” Pete said. “So yeah, I think they would try to play it down.”
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Biden avoided questions from the press during his trip to Ukraine and Poland in February, although he held a joint news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a trip to Ottawa in March.
Despite his engagement with reporters, Biden fielded questions from elementary school-aged children of US Embassy employees after arriving in Dublin on Wednesday.
“He doesn’t want to talk about his son. He doesn’t want to talk about Ukraine. He doesn’t want to talk about inflation,” Michael said. “He doesn’t want to talk about what’s really hurting America.”
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