President Joe Biden held his much-anticipated first press conference as president on Thursday and if you were waiting for some blockbuster news or earth-shattering moment, you likely were left disappointed.
As should have been expected, it was perfectly ordinary. Boring, even. Which is probably exactly the way Biden wanted it.
He answered questions about a variety of topics and answered them competently enough that it turned into your regular old ordinary presidential news conference. You know, like the kind we used to have before Donald Trump’s combative and chaotic ones.
How Biden did likely depends on your politics. Most seemed to think Biden did just fine. But, predictably, many of those who lean right picked apart Biden’s press conference in order to paint him as bumbling, stumbling and generally incompetent. That especially goes for some of the folks at Fox News, who practically lost their minds that Biden didn’t call on Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy to ask a question.
But how did the media do?
Well, here’s what Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin tweeted after it was over:
Biden: A
Press: D-
In her column for the Post, Rubin wrote, “Try as they might to seem ‘tough,’ the media did not succeed in knocking Biden off message. Biden spoke in great detail and length to show not only his mastery of the issues but also to suck tension and conflict out of the room.”
She also wrote, “The media did not distinguish themselves.”
In fact, the headline on Rubin’s column was, “Biden excels at his first news conference. The media embarrass themselves.”
The media did ask some solid questions, but in what ways did it drop the ball? Anita Kumar summed it up well in the opening two paragraphs of her piece for Politico:
During the first news conference of his presidency, Joe Biden was never asked about the defining crisis of this generation and, in all likelihood, his time in office.
Over the course of 62 minutes on Thursday, the Covid-19 pandemic never arose, except for in the president’s remarks at the start of the event, touting the accomplishments his administration has made in the U.S.’s yearlong fight.
She’s right. Zero questions about COVID-19 and more than one time-wasting question about whether Biden would run for president in 2024. He said yes. Of course he said yes. Even if he, deep down, has no plans to run, there’s no way he would ever admit to it, and thus be a lame-duck president with more than three-and-a-half years still left in his first term. What else could he possibly say? Besides, weren’t there more pressing topics at the moment than a presidential election that is years away?
New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman tweeted, “There’s a reason to express concern about a president not doing press conferences, but no question on covid or specifics on gun control is hard to fathom.”
The White House argued that Biden is doing such a good job with COVID-19 that there is nothing for the press to ask.
So the virus didn’t come up. But other topics did, such as immigration, the filibuster and voting rights, foreign policy (especially around China) and infrastructure. According to tracking by CNN, immigration was the most-discussed topic, accounting for 19 minutes of the 62-minute press conference.
Before it even started, CNN’s Jake Tapper put it well when he called presidential press conferences “high stakes for every president. Low reward. And high risk.”
Turns out, Biden turned high risk into modest rewards. In the end, there were no eye-popping, jaw-dropping, head-scratching moments.
It was simple and routine enough that the media might not clamor for his next press conference as much as this first one. That doesn’t mean Biden shouldn’t do more press conferences. Of course he should.
But now we know, at least based on Biden’s first go-around, presidential press conferences likely will be filled with more information than fireworks.
Like they should be.
Other notable media thoughts as we wrap up the week …
Should have called on Doocy
Biden should have called on Fox News’ Peter Doocy just to avoid the criticism. If Doocy is legitimate enough to be in the room, he’s legitimate enough to be called upon.
As Fox News’ Dana Perino, a former White House press secretary for George W. Bush, said on air, “Why make Peter Doocy a story, right? Just take his question and move on.”
I agree with her. Although, it should be mentioned that Fox News wasn’t the only outlet snubbed. For example, The New York Times wasn’t called upon, either.
Willing accomplices
President Biden hadn’t even held his first press conference on Thursday when Fox News sent out a release saying former President Donald Trump would be appearing on Thursday night’s Laura Ingraham show and that the interview would include “reaction” to Biden’s first press conference.
Is this how it’s going to be? Fox News is going to dial up Trump every time there’s major news or Biden does something, as if Trump is supposed to weigh in on this stuff?
Surely, this delights Fox News audiences, probably produces decent ratings and keeps the network’s sycophantic relationship with Trump going strong. It’s also disappointing, although not at all surprising, to see Fox News so complicit as Trump breaks tradition and decency. Former presidents typically do not comment on current presidents, especially early in administrations. Why? Because in the wake of elections, especially hotly contested ones, the country is still divided. The months after a new president takes over are supposed to be a time for healing, not bitter second-guessing from the president who lost the election.
It’s not at all shocking that Trump is breaking that tradition, but it’s disconcerting to see Fox News playing along.
Another Cuomo controversy
