Hidin’ Biden: See How Few Interviews Biden Has Given Compared With Past Presidents

Despite appearances, not only Today News Africa reporter Simon Ateba, but also other members of the White House press corps are frustrated with the lack of access to the Biden administration.

Ateba was scolded by colleagues for derailing the White House press briefing on Monday with a rant about not being called on to ask questions. But complaints about President Joe Biden’s tendency to avoid the media had already erupted in the briefing room days earlier, as detailed by the New York Post. Thursday’s “reporter revolt” happened amid “mounting tension with the White House press corps over a recent dearth of meaningful access.”

Compared to his recent predecessors, Biden has given about half as many press conferences in his first two years in office. He has also granted less than a quarter as many interviews as Donald Trump did at the same point in his presidency, according to the New York Post.

Although Biden has participated in 375 informal question-and-answer sessions, more than Trump, Obama, or Bush, these encounters often feature extremely brief engagements that can include a single-word reply before the commander-in-chief walks away, observes the New York Post.

Karine Jean-Pierre, White House press secretary, has been accused by reporters of stonewalling, as she has often said she didn’t have the information being sought more than 20 times in her first 10 briefings, according to a review of the transcripts by West Wing Playbook.

According to Politico, many reporters have complained that when Jean-Pierre has answers, they are often vague and rarely stray from the pre-written talking points prepared in the binder at the podium.

Mark Halperin, a former ABC News political director who has covered six presidencies, wrote Saturday of the New York Post‘s coverage: “Someday, this will be treated as the giant story it is by at least history, if not the Dominant Media.”