The White House on Wednesday blamed United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson after President Joe Biden snubbed American reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday evening.
Johnson called on two reporters from his press corps for questions, but Biden did not do the same for American reporters.
CBS White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe raised the incident with White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki during the daily briefing Wednesday.
Psaki made the excuse that Johnson did not inform Biden or his staff “in advance” that he would take questions.
“I think our relationship with the United Kingdom and with prime minister Johnson is so strong and abiding, we’ll be able to move beyond this,” she added. “But he called on individuals in his press corps without alerting us to that intention in advance.”
When asked by another reporter if Biden felt upstaged by Johnson’s questions that set off the awkward exchange, Psaki quickly denied it.
“I think the president has not spent a moment worrying about it,” she replied.
Reporters were visibly upset after Biden aides shouted them out of the room — at one point drowning out the president’s attempt to answer a question.
MOMENTS AGO: Staff orders news media to leave The White House as UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks mid-sentence pic.twitter.com/MXg2m0o1hq
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) September 21, 2021
After the event, the entire pool marched into White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s office to “register a formal complaint that no American reporters were recognized for questions in the president’s Oval Office.”
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