Though White House press secretary Jen Psaki is soon to be headed over to NBC Universal’s “Peacock” streaming service for a cushy MSNBC-style gig, she’s being peppered with questions on her way out the door about why President Biden is so often sheilded from the press and the “perception” that he’s not a very effective communicator when his handlers do decide to allow him out of the basement.
For instance, as we previously reported, Psaki sat down Wednesday for an interview with Chris Wallace on the soon-to-be-shut-down CNN+ streaming service. During the segment, Wallace was surprisingly tough on her regarding the Media Avoidance Strategy frequently activated by the White House comms staff.
Psaki dodged and weaved as Wallace asked her why Biden “is so sheltered from the press,” and dropped receipt after receipt on her, including the stats contrasting the interviews Joe Biden did in 2021 in comparison to interviews other recent presidents had done in their first year in office.
“By comparison, Jen, that’s sheltered,” Wallace correctly pointed out.
It is indeed. And while the White House will gaslight the American people from now until 2024 by refusing to acknowledge Joe Biden doesn’t just have press access issues of his staff’s own creation but also messaging woes that are solely his creation, a definitive answer was, in a way, given to the longstanding question of “why doesn’t he do more interviews?” during a South Lawn ceremony Monday involving Biden and the players from the Tampa Bay Lightning, who won back to back Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021.
As you’ll see in the below video clip, things got off to a rocky start when Biden appeared to mispronounce NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman’s name. It sounds like he calls him “Gary Batman”:
Newsbusters executive editor Tim Graham responded accordingly:
I should note that the official transcript at the White House website does NOT note in brackets that Biden mispronounced Bettman’s name:
Anyway, I want to thank Commissioner Gary Bettman and — for being here as well.
And at the risk of stating the obvious here, it’s a pretty good time to be a sports fan in Tampa. (Applause.)
I know some people seeing that will think “but it’s just one flub!” The problem is that it’s part of a long and troubling pattern, and it happens in pretty much every speech and public appearance he gives. Even more concerning than the mispronunciations is him routinely forgetting the names of members of Congress, cabinet members, the names of world leaders, where he is, and the instances where he appears to point at thin air, etc.
None of this, I should reiterate, is normal, no matter how much the media, Democrats, and Never Trumpers paint these worrisome incidents as “just Joe being Joe.”
The answer to the question of “Why doesn’t Joe Biden do more interviews?” is best explained by Joe Biden himself. Every. single. time. he opens his mouth.