As the nation creeps closer to defaulting on its debt and creating financial calamity, what do you think President Joe Biden will do? Why, he’s planning on doing what he has been doing for approximately 40 percent of his time in office—going on vacation. Not only is he not negotiating with Republicans while he lounges at Camp David and at his home in Delaware, but he’s not even briefing the press during a crucial time for our country.
Even the lapdog White House Correspondents’ Association is getting tired of this act. WHCA President and NPR White House correspondent Tamara Keith said in a Friday letter to Fox News that the administration basically told reporters to take a hike:
“The WHCA board pushed hard for the White House to hold a briefing on Friday or potentially over the weekend given intense interest in the high stakes debt ceiling negotiations and the risk that the US economy could go over a cliff,” the letter said. “The White House was not persuaded by our argument that the public deserves to see them answer questions. Monday is a federal holiday, which means there could be four days in the midst of a political crisis, without a briefing.”
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has been warning for the past month that the country will run out of money on June 1, but on Friday she oh-so-conveniently bought Biden some extra time by saying, actually we’ve got until June 5.
Meanwhile, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Olivia Dalton defended the administration’s lack of transparency in a defensive-sounding statement:
“The briefing is one mechanism through which we share information with the press but not the only one. The team is constantly available—7 days a week—to answer questions from the press about developments in the news,” Dalton told Fox News Digital. “The President publicly addressed the debt limit in a press conference on Sunday, in the Oval Office on Tuesday, and again yesterday. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen addressed the situation last Sunday on Meet the Press and White House officials have done interviews throughout the week. Karine has answered 105 questions in four on-camera press briefings this week, including a Saturday briefing for traveling reporters in Japan. We’re proud to have restored that tradition after the last administration ended briefings entirely. And the White House has issued a steady stream of statements, releases, and memos on the budget agreement and need to avoid default.”
Seriously, halfway through Biden’s term and this team is still bringing up the last administration? It’s Biden’s ship now, and that nation is asking what he’s doing, not what the last president did.
Further underscoring the lack of seriousness on the administration’s part in dealing with the default issue is Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s insistence that the president has been negotiating all along when the receipts prove otherwise:
Most D.C. journalists covering the White House have been sycophants since they enabled Hidin’ Biden’s basement presidential campaign, but now they think the president is suddenly going to respect them? With the exception of Fox News‘ Peter Doocy and Today News Africa‘s Simon Ateba, it’s rare to hear a challenging question asked during Jean-Pierre’s briefings. Meanwhile, she’s been defensive on the topic all week. Watch as she snaps at a reporter who dares to ask about the latest vacation:
It’s hard to know which is worse, Biden’s complete lack of transparency, or just how long the WHCA let him get away with it.