Video Shows Biden Complaining About Press While Kicking Them Out of Conference

After completing his first year in office, the Committee to Protect Journalists released a report grading President Biden’s approach to the press. It called the experience “night and day” compared to the Trump administration but criticized Biden for a lack of availability.

A video posted by The Post Millennial today seems to show President Biden complaining about the White House press corps, complaining to the person sitting next to him that “they never ask relevant questions.”

The comment came during the White House’s round table discussion with small business owners where the administration was touting its “small business boom” report.

Biden says "they never ask relevant questions" as his team kicks out the press. pic.twitter.com/tD5ntIEu25

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) April 28, 2022

The press was invited but after making his remarks they were ushered out of the room while peppering the president with questions. That is when the barely audible but clear enough faux pas can be heard.

According to the summary of Biden’s comments posted on the White House website, the press were not permitted to ask questions. The official video posted by The White House cuts the audio after Biden says “Thank you for being here,” which is presumably when the posted video continues and Biden makes the comment about the press corps.

The comment was the latest in a series of incidents that have frustrated the press, who were hoping for a president more favorable to the them compared to former President Donald Trump, who had an extremely adversarial relationship with the media.

President Biden has held far fewer press conferences than his predecessors; only nine formal news conferences were held by Biden in his first year in office. Trump held 22 and Obama held 27 during the same time period.

In January, Biden also took some heat for being overheard calling Fox News Reporter Steven Doocy a “stupid son of a b*tch.”

There have also been numerous reports that Biden’s staff discourages him from taking questions from the press, something White House spokesperson Jen Psaki admitted to during a podcast interview.

That is all still a far cry from the former president, who popularized the term “fake news” and called the press the “enemy of the people.” But it is still not what journalists were hoping for when Biden entered office. During the 2020 campaign, Biden attacked Trump on Twitter for his handling of the press no less than five times.

In a May 2020 twitter post, Biden told then President Trump to “cry me a river” after Trump complained about tough questions from the media.