White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield claimed on Friday that President Joe Biden “never shies away from taking questions” even though he left a recent press conference on the crisis in Afghanistan without taking any questions from reporters.
MSNBC host Willie Geist asked Bedingfield whether Biden would be taking questions from reporters after he speaks at the White House on Friday, saying “the American people have a lot of direct questions for him.”
Bedingfield replied: “The president never shies away from taking questions. I’ll let him make a decision if he’s going to take questions this afternoon. But you saw he just did a full sit-down interview on this just yesterday,” she said. “So, he is always willing to take questions and I’ll let him decide if he’s going to do that after his remarks today.”
WH Comms Director Kate Bedingfield: “The president never shies away from taking questions.” pic.twitter.com/KNkSqyCgtU
— America Rising (@AmericaRising) August 20, 2021
Biden walked away from reporters earlier this week as they shouted questions at him following his first speech regarding the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan.
He also refused to take questions after held a separate press briefing on the coronavirus pandemic.
TURNING HIS BACK ON THE AMERICAN PEOPLE: President Biden again refuses to take questions from reporters about the collapse of Afghanistan after he instead gave a speech attacking conservatives and Republicans who’ve refused to get vaccinated and wear masks. pic.twitter.com/J3zFRkWPgJ
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 18, 2021
The president has a reputation for being heavily controlled by White House communications staff, by his own admission.
He also came under heavy criticism during his presidential campaign for giving limited access to the media, campaigning little, calling “lids” on appearances frequently, and staying in what critics derisively called “his basement” most of the time.
Biden did take limited questions during his press briefing on Friday, while Vice President Kamala Harris, who has also avoided the public eye over the past week, is set to travel to Vietnam and Singapore.
