More reaction to President Biden’s first presser on Thursday is pouring in and it unflatteringly includes his use of cheat sheets to identify reporters, his stumbling while speaking, forgetting what he was saying, and much more that left viewers wondering “Is this real?”
Sean Hannity said it was like “watching a trainwreck in slow motion.” Conservative analyst Todd Starnes tweeted that it was a “scripted reality television show.” Politico Kimberly Klacik quipped on Twitter: “America just had bologna for lunch.” Tucker Carlson epically mocked the entire presser with biting snark as well.
Fox News host Chris Wallace, who is a registered Democrat, was “struck by the fact that it seemed on every foreign policy question, not the others, but on foreign policy, he went to his briefing book like Jen Psaki does sometimes in the briefings, and was reading obviously White House guidance, White House talking points.” Biden’s answer on North Korea was read entirely from his notes. “Covering Ronald Reagan for six years, I never saw that,” Wallace commented. “Watching a lot of news conferences over the years, I’ve never seen that — a president in a news conference reading talking points. He did that on, it seemed, every foreign policy question.” In reality, Biden referred to his notes throughout the briefing as if he could not remember where he was or what he was talking about. He also stopped in mid-sentence more than once and just seemed to give up even trying to formulate a cogent thought.
Former Clinton aide James Carville quipped Thursday on MSNBC’s “The Beat” that the questions asked at the press conference were “ridiculous.”
Photos have surfaced of Biden’s notes that he read from and continuously referenced during his presser. There’s also a photo of what seems to be a list of pre-selected reporters that he called on. There were 25 in the room. He only called on ten of them and notably, one of the reporters snubbed was Peter Doocy of Fox News. The reporters were numbered on his list in the order they were called upon. They were obviously preselected before the presser.
“Fox News reporter Peter Doocy was in the room but Biden did not call on him, instead consulting a list that he repeatedly looked at when determining who he was going to call on,” The Daily Wire said. “All of the reporters that Biden called on were from left-of-center mainstream publications and far-left organizations or are activists who masquerade as reporters.”
Many conservatives are claiming that Biden received his questions in advance. That has not been proven.
Doocy allegedafter the presser that there were aides “monitoring what” Biden was saying, though he was “pretty much on his own.” It was also alleged that Biden didn’t seem to realize a presser was going to take place and he was nudged to the podium.