White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday that President Biden did not give a single solo press conference during his first 45 days in office because he is busy with “historic crises” linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Psaki dodged a reporter’s questions about why Biden did not hold a question and answer forum earlier in the semester – in a break from his recent predecessors – pointing to Biden’s occasional exchanges of one or two questions with reporters.
“He answered the questions. I believe that this count is almost 40 times. And I would say that his focus, once again, is to get recovery and relief for the American people and he hopes to continue to engage with all of you and the members of – other members of the media who are not here today, and we look forward to inform you as soon as the press conference is scheduled, ”said Psaki at his daily press conference.
Psaki was questioned on Friday by reporters about a growing immigrant crisis on the Mexican border. Republicans say Biden caused the crisis by relaxing former President Donald Trump’s policies on asylum and illegal immigration.
Other presidents took office during historic crises, but gave press conferences. Former President Barack Obama, for example, inherited a financial system crisis, but gave his first press conference after less than three weeks on February 9, 2009.
“We hope to hold a full press conference in the next few weeks before the end of the month and we are working to set a final date for that and, as soon as we do, we will let everyone know,” said Psaki. .
“But this president came during a historic crisis – two historic crises, a pandemic like the country has not seen for decades and decades and an economic recession that has left 10 million people out of work.”
Unlike Trump, who often answered so many questions that reporters in the pool were left with no questions, Biden usually answers at most one or two questions during events in the West Wing or during his South Lawn departures.
Shortly after Psaki’s press conference, Biden did not answer a reporter’s question about when he will present an infrastructure bill after speaking at the White House about a surprisingly strong monthly job report.