In his first press conference in eight months, President Joe Biden appeared to rely heavily on a pre-prepared list of reporters provided by his staff, sparking concerns that the White House is indeed “stage managing” the president and limiting his exposure to unscripted events.
The unusual press conference began with Biden reading from a teleprompter, before pausing to consult a list of reporters he was scheduled to call on. The first question came from Reuters’ Jeff Mason, to which Biden responded with seemingly rehearsed answers that were interrupted by long pauses and inaudible mumbles.
In one notable instance, Biden committed a gaffe by referring to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump.” Despite his staff’s efforts to prepare him, Biden continued to stumble through the press conference, struggling to maintain a sense of confidence.
At one point, Biden claimed, “I love my staff, but they add things,” before revealing that he is “catching hell from my wife.” The remark, while intended to humanize the president, only added to the impression that Biden is struggling to keep up with the demands of the job. To make matters worse, Biden was over 45 minutes late to the press conference, following two previous delays in the hours leading up to the event.
