The establishment media proclaimed it will ask President Biden serious questions about the failures of his administration at his press conference Wednesday, one year after taking office.
After avoiding asking Biden difficult questions during the 2020 campaign against Donald Trump and for most of his first year in office, the media seem to have grown hungry for answers from Biden, who will be conducting just the sixth solo press conference of his presidency, the Washington Post estimated.
The Post admitted Biden’s lack “of formal news conferences cuts down on the opportunities for a politician with a penchant for gaffes and misstatements to make mistakes.”
Politico Playbook rendered a list of questions from reporters that Biden has thus far evaded. None ask about the deadly Afghan withdrawal in August, nor the southern border crisis. What they do ask about include the following, paraphrased:
- Why does the president believe his poll numbers are so low (33 percent)?
- Will the failure to destroy election integrity impact the midterms?
- “What will now be good enough for Biden, and what level of living with Covid-19 does he think Americans should accept — and judge him by in November?”
- Is defeating the pandemic possible after promising to shut it down over ten times during his campaign?
- Will Biden watch the Winter Olympics in Beijing given China’s human rights violations? “Does he think Americans should watch?”
- Does Biden believe his employer vaccine mandate was a political mistake after the Supreme Court shut it down?
- What does Biden think about Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s (D-AZ) lack of respect for him?
- What is Biden’s plan to reduce 40-year-high inflation?
The Hill also suggested questions Biden should answer during his rare press conference appearance:
What preventative measures is your administration looking at in order to prevent another test shortage and other pandemic-related measures should another variant arise? What do you say to criticism that your administration is reacting instead of being more proactive two years into the pandemic?
Have you been satisfied with the messaging coming from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention? Can your administration improve the way it communicates about the pandemic to the American public?
Can you commit unequivocally to running for reelection? Will Vice President Harris be your running mate? If you can’t commit unequivocally, who do you think should be the nominee if circumstances ultimately cause you to decide against running?
The questions Biden may be asked during the 4 p.m. press conference come as the media shied away from asking Biden tough questions during the 2020 campaign, avoiding topics like Hunter Biden’s laptop, Biden’s visits with Chinese President Xi Jinping as vice president, and how he would make good on his promise to shut down the pandemic.
Instead, the media asked Biden softball questions.
“You announced some key members of your cabinet today, a very experienced group, a very diverse group. Clearly, you’re trying to send a message. Can you articulate what that message is?” NBC News anchor Lester Holt asked then President-elect Biden in November.
During a CNN town hall just one month before the election, Biden was asked if he benefited from white privilege, and how he would unite the country, and about global warming’s devastating impact on the nation.
ABC’s town hall in Pennsylvania that month was not much better. George Stephanopoulos asked Biden if he would take the vaccine and if he would reduce taxes for the middle class.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø