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To say the press were adversarial under Donald Trump would be the understatement of the century. There are current journalists who made their entire careers by causing scenes in the briefing room and insisting that every move by Trump was going to bring about the end of the nation. The preening self-righteousness was a feature, not a bug of the news industry.

Then Joe Biden took over and everything changed. Suddenly, it was not only fine to berate reporters (see Yikes: Joe Biden Loses It on a CNN Reporter in Shocking, Senile Rant), it was something for that reporter’s own network to defend (see The Press Are Now Praising Joe Biden for Verbally Assaulting a Reporter). Anger being shown by Biden towards reporters who ask basic questions has become a common theme throughout his short tenure.

That happened again today at the White House where Biden popped off at an NBC News reporter, saying she was being a “pain in the neck” for asking about vaccine mandates for Veteran Affairs employees.

The flare-up occurred as Biden hosted Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi in the Oval Office on Monday. Biden took a number of questions from the press pool where he discussed America’s relationship with Iraq, and he outlined his approach to dealing with any future violence from ISIS in the Middle East.

As White House aides urged the press to leave the room, NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell tried to ask Biden a question about VA Secretary Denis McDonough’s announcement that the department will make Covid vaccines mandatory for their front-line workers. McDonough defended the mandate by citing the need for the department’s employees to take maximum protection against the contagious Delta variant.

Biden admonished O’Donnell over her question — apparently irritated that it wasn’t related to Iraq.

You are such a pain in the neck, but I’m going to answer your question because we’ve known each other so long. It has nothing to do with Iraq…Yes, Veteran Affairs is going to, in fact, require that all doctors working in their facilities are gonna have to be vaccinated.

What’s ironic is that Kelly O’Donnell almost certainly supports Biden’s move, yet he’s unable to delineate that and realize he’s dealing with a probable ally who is serving up a softball for him. Senility being a factor and all.

Daily Caller
@DailyCaller
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President Biden calls NBC News’ a "pain in the neck.”

“I take that as a compliment,” she replies.

Regardless, O’Donnell shouldn’t take it as a compliment that the president insulted her over a basic question. Rather, she should take it how she would have taken it if Donald Trump had said the same thing to her, which is almost certainly with offense and indignation. Her colleagues should also take it that way because that’s exactly how they responded when Trump would poke at them.

Heck, I can hear the Jim Acosta monologue. “No, Mr. President, we are not a pain in your neck, we are truth-tellers and stewards of this democracy,” followed by some rant about how Trump is putting journalists’ lives at risk by attacking them. But because it’s Joe Biden, no one cares. The press are, instead, almost joyful that the current president would grace them with an insult. Isn’t he just such a funny guy?

What all this shows is what we already knew — all the gnashing of teeth over Trump being a threat to the free press was nothing but partisan politics. These reporters were never seriously concerned about themselves or the health of their industry. Rather, they saw freaking out over Trump’s every utterance toward the press as a way to push the political narrative that he was somehow uniquely evil.

In comparison, Acosta, O’Donnell, and the rest will not hold Biden to the same standard because they are on the same side as Biden. This would all be much easier if they’d just admit it.

Last edited by Jutu
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