WASHINGTON — No news conference. No Oval Office address. No primetime speech to a joint session of Congress. President Joe Biden is the first executive in four decades to reach this point in his term without holding a formal question and answer session. It reflects a White House media strategy meant both to reserve major media set-pieces for the celebration of a legislative victory and to limit unforced errors from a historically gaffe-prone politician. Biden has opted to take questions about as often as most of his recent predecessors, but he tends to field just one or two informal inquiries at a time, usually in a hurried setting at the end of an event. In a sharp contrast with the previous administration, the White House is exerting extreme message discipline, empowering staff to speak but doing so with caution. Recalling both Biden’s largely leak-free campaign and the buttoned-up Obama administration, the new White House team has carefully managed the president’s appearances, … [Read more...] about Biden White House: message discipline, no news conference
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Reporter Who Dated White House Spokesman Quits Axios To Become Editor-In-Chief Of Teen Vogue
Axios’ Alexi McCammond, who garnered headlines for her relationship with former White House press aide TJ Ducklo, is leaving the company to work for Teen Vogue. The global company Conde Nast announced McCammond as Teen Vogue’s newest editor-in-chief Thursday. McCammond became known throughout the 2018 midterm elections and as a reporter covering then-presidential candidate Joe Biden’s campaign — it was her relationship, however, that ultimately sparked various news articles. Axios said McCammond had been “reassigned” at some point leading up to Biden’s inauguration after it was revealed that she was dating Ducklo, who worked for the administration until his resignation . The resignation came amid allegations that he made sexist remarks and threatened to “destroy” a Politico reporter in an attempt to keep the relationship secret. McCammond began dating Ducklo while she was still covering the Biden campaign, The New York Times reported . Axios knew of the relationship as … [Read more...] about Reporter Who Dated White House Spokesman Quits Axios To Become Editor-In-Chief Of Teen Vogue
Toomey: Trump Can’t Be the Republican Nominee in 2024 — He Cost GOP Senate, White House
Retiring Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), who voted to convict Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial, said Friday on Fox News Channel’s “Your World with Neil Cavuto” that the former president will not be the Republican Party’s presidential nominee in 2024. Cavuto said, “I know you’re leaving the Senate. You got into a storm of controversy with your own state GOP because you voted to convict the president in the impeachment trial in the Senate. Do you look back at that and have any regrets and the wrath you have received for that vote and the criticism of the president and others?” Toomey said, “I did what I thought was right. Over time what Republicans will do is we’ll acknowledge and recognize, as most already do, that there were some tremendous accomplishments by the Trump administration during those four years, but in my view, the behavior of the president after the election, culminating on January 6, was completely unacceptable. And I think I did the right thing.” Cavuto … [Read more...] about Toomey: Trump Can’t Be the Republican Nominee in 2024 — He Cost GOP Senate, White House
Historic Delay: Jen Psaki Predicts Joe Biden Press Conference ‘Before the End of the Month’
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday conceded President Joe Biden would have a press conference in “coming weeks” and “before the end of the month.” A recent CNN analysis of the past 100 years shows the 15 most recent presidents have all held a formal solo press conference within 33 days of taking office. This is President Biden’s 44th day in office. Psaki blamed Biden’s focus on the coronavirus pandemic for the delay, arguing that the president’s time, energy, and focus was on solving the crisis. “I think the American people would certainly understand if his focus and his energy and his attention has been on ensuring we secure enough vaccines to vaccinate all Americas,” she said. Since taking office, however, President Biden has spent three weekends away from the White House, including two at his home in Deleware and one at the presidential retreat at Camp David. Biden’s refusal to host a press conference fits a pattern of behavior exhibited by his staff … [Read more...] about Historic Delay: Jen Psaki Predicts Joe Biden Press Conference ‘Before the End of the Month’
Joe Biden Is First President in 40 Years to Not Hold Formal Question-Answer Session by This Point in Term
President Joe Biden is the first executive in 40 years to come to this point in his term without holding a formal question and answer session, such as a news conference or Oval Office address. “It reflects a White House media strategy meant both to reserve major media set-pieces for the celebration of a legislative victory and to limit unforced errors from a historically gaffe-prone politician,” the Associated Press (AP) reported Saturday. The president chooses to take questions nearly as often as many of his recent predecessors, but usually takes one or two informal inquiries in a hurried setting toward the end of events, the article continued: In a sharp contrast with the previous administration, the White House is exerting extreme message discipline, empowering staff to speak but doing so with caution. Recalling both Biden’s largely leak-free campaign and the buttoned-up Obama administration, the new White House team has carefully managed the president’s appearances, … [Read more...] about Joe Biden Is First President in 40 Years to Not Hold Formal Question-Answer Session by This Point in Term