White House advisers describe the strategy not so much as a delegation, but as a concerted effort to restore the confidence of an audience overwhelmed by the contradictory messages and scorched earth politics of the Trump years. In just over a week, the White House has scheduled 80 TV and radio interviews with 20 senior administration officials, members of the Covid-19 response team and designated cabinet secretaries. They had employees at each major chain, scheduling them for every Sunday program in the first week. And they are working with CNN to have three of the doctors responsible for responding to Covid-19 answer questions from the public during a coronavirus prefecture, said Mariel Sáez, director of broadcasting media for the White House.
Who was not scheduled for any seated interview: Biden.
But the president was also not exactly absent. He attended brief ceremonies in which he signed executive orders and commented mostly. He received a handful of questions from the media. And he is due to deliver an important foreign policy speech on Monday amid a planned trip to the State Department, his first visit to a Cabinet agency.
As the main protagonists, Biden’s role has been relatively limited – a striking contrast to the omnipresent president who preceded him. Donald Trump did not love the spotlight so much, but he tried to consume them entirely. Whether he was sending Twitter messages all the time or shouting answers about the deafening blades of his presidential aircraft, Trump longed for media attention like no American leader before him.
Biden’s current approach is almost the antithesis. It also contrasts with the way he acted early in his career. As a senator, he was known for his loquacity. As vice president, there was growing fear in the White House that he would run over the message of the day with his tendency to freelance (a fear that often did not materialize).
Biden’s White House advisors themselves are now as ubiquitous as he is, some perhaps even more so. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease specialist, domestic policy adviser Susan Rice, economic adviser Brian Deese and climate chiefs John Kerry and Gina McCarthy have already toured the White House briefing room to answer questions. Questions. The press secretary, Jen Psaki, did not want to compromise on when Biden will be able to answer questions there, saying he is always looking for opportunities to do so. Trump, during his tenure, brought the cameras to sit with auto industry leaders, as well as union leaders and workers. He did the same for speeches at the CIA and DHS, and traveled to Philadelphia for a televised speech at the Republican Party retreat. While Biden did not give a television interview, Trump had already conducted three at this point in his presidency.
“He’s safe. He’s not threatened by someone else in the spotlight, ”Paul Begala, the veteran Democratic strategist, said of Biden. “In fact, I think he likes it. He is showing the country that he has assembled a truly talented and diverse team. “
During the presidential campaign, Biden turned his promise to hire and rely on expert advice into a weapon against Trump. And his advisers entered the transition perfectly aware of the history of presidents who took over much of the burden. Jimmy Carter, the first president-elect after Richard Nixon stepped down, was a poor delegator and quickly came to be seen as unable to meet the demands of the job.
“You can start with character, then go for openness, compassion, all the things that Trump was missing and that Biden and his team are talking about,” Begala said. “But then you really have to go and do things. They seem to be enormously aware of the fact that just not being Trump is no longer enough. “
Among those who go on the radio waves is the White House chief of staff, Ron Klain, who is seen within the government as someone the public trusts in the pandemic. Klain had a large public presence in messages around Covid, with interviews and an active Twitter personality that he has developed since managing the Obama administration’s response to Ebola.
During this crisis, Klain himself discovered the importance of capable deputies. On days when public anxiety about the virus was increasing, he coined an acronym and sent an email to the people “PTFOTV”. “Everyone in my office knew what PTFOTV meant,” Klain told POLITICO last year. “It was ‘Put Tony Fauci On TV’.”
Fauci, who maintained high approval ratings during Trump’s last year, is now back in office and being replaced by Klain again. And in his media revival, he worked hard to announce his release from Trump. “The idea that you can get up and talk about what you know, what the evidence is, what science is,” said Fauci, “is a somewhat liberating feeling.”
But with that freedom comes the complications for a government that is, at the same time, publicly disclosing many senior officials and hoping that everyone will stay on the same message. At a Thursday event sponsored by the National Education Association, Fauci emphasized that Biden wants to maintain his goal of reopening most K-8 schools in the first 100 days. But Fauci added that “it may not happen because there may be mitigating circumstances,” a hypothetical scenario that the White House has avoided entertaining.
There is little doubt that whoever replaced Trump in the White House would keep his public statements more in line with historical standards. On Twitter alone, Biden has yet to announce anything close to news, let alone reveal – as Trump used to do – that he fired an aide or disrupted his party’s parliamentary negotiations.
Silence can have its advantages. Former President Barack Obama has gone public for long periods, especially when Congress became involved in high-risk negotiations. His advisers were eager to implement it when his contribution had the greatest impact. And they were aware, too, that Obama’s entry into a public debate could instantly polarize him – and give Republicans a useful political advantage.
During his own campaign, Biden perfected the act of prostrating himself to the point that Democrats joked that he was part of an Avengers-like ensemble rather than a solo act.
Some, including people close to Biden, say that while it is not a determining factor, there is a generational component to their decision not to fight for attention. At 78, he is the oldest president in history. His skill with technology is not regularly praised. He promised to be a bridge for a future generation of Democrats – who appreciate any amount of attention he can give them.
One of those next-generation Democrats, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Recalled speaking privately to Biden after he withdrew from the presidential race. Biden, Swalwell told POLITICO, said he “would do everything he could if he were elected to ‘pass the torch’.” The congressman said he believes Biden sees the deployment of experts and representatives as a nod to the public that the government is working on his side.
“These are the faces,” said Swalwell of Biden’s current approach. “It is not a show.”
Some faces in the administration were more prominent than others. Vice President Kamala Harris was at Biden’s side for many meetings and appearances, as her press team was careful to note. This week, she was assigned to interviews with TV stations and editorial boards in Arizona and West Virginia, states with Democratic senators that the government is courting to support its priorities.
Then there is Pete Buttigieg, known for his constant media successes during his presidential candidacy and as one of the most effective substitutes for Biden’s campaign.
Buttigieg made a dizzying number of appearances in his new role as designated transport secretary, stopping on “The View”, “Morning Joe” (twice) and another MSNBC show, CNN (twice), NPR, Jimmy’s Tonight show. Fallon, local TV Stations in Green Bay and Detroit, an interview with the Washington Post and a meeting with media company Chris Evans, star of “Captain America” - all since mid-December.
Presidential nominees traditionally follow a strict omertà code before the Senate waves them. But a consultant at Buttigieg said that the issues he’s talking about – relief from Covid, Biden’s “Buy American” executive order and climate change – are all “important transportation priorities that Pete is looking forward to working at DOT, if confirmed. .
Buttigieg’s real role in the administration sometimes takes a back seat to the news that is dominating the day. In a recent CNN interview with Don Lemon, he was asked about Senate impeachment hearings involving Trump, Biden’s devotion to unity and the president’s reversal of the transgender military ban – a topic with which he has a personal connection as an openly gay veteran.
Instead of dodging, Buttigieg followed the leadership defined by others in Biden’s orbit and engaged, calling Biden’s order an example of what it really means to “support our troops”.
Natasha Korecki contributed to this report.