You can imagine that the intention will be swept away by issues of arms and immigration, but the White House hopes that President Joe Biden today will be able to commend his success in getting the Covid-19 relief bill in Congress so early in his administration. .
Jonathan Lemire and Zeke Miller write for the Associated Press that he is the first chief executive in four decades to reach this point in his term without holding a formal question and answer session. He will meet with reporters for the afternoon event broadcast on national television in the East Room of the White House.
“It is an opportunity for him to speak to the American people, obviously directly through the cover, directly through all of you,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday. “So I think he’s thinking about what he wants to say, what he wants to convey, where he can provide updates and, you know, looking forward to the opportunity to interact with a free press.”
Biden’s conservative critics pointed to the delay in suggesting that Biden was being protected by his team. West Wing advisers rejected questions about a press conference as a Washington obsession, pointing to Biden’s high approval ratings and suggesting that the general public is not concerned about the event.
Backstage advisers took the event seriously enough to simulate a session with the president earlier this week. And there is a concern that Biden, a self-proclaimed “gaffe machine”, can deliver a message and generate a series of unflattering news cycles.
Firmly promising his belief in freedom of the press, Biden rebuked his predecessor’s incendiary rhetoric towards the media, including Donald Trump’s references to reporters as “the enemy of the people.” Biden restored the daily press conference, which had been extinguished under Trump, opening a window for the White House to function.
Biden will aim for an increase in the distribution of vaccines, encouraging signs in the economy and the benefits that Americans will receive from the broad stimulus package.
But his appearance will come just a day after he appointed Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the government’s response to the situation on the US-Mexico border, where the government faces a growing humanitarian and political challenge that threatens to overshadow Biden’s legislative agenda. . Pressure has increased on the White House to support tougher arms measures, and the White House has struggled to contain a national effort by Republican legislatures to tighten electoral laws.