Yes, Reporters Shout Questions
Biden knows it too
If you are not in the news business, it probably does not occur to you that news outlets spend a lot of money on their Washington bureaus and White House desks. Ergo, if you are covering the White House and you work your way into the press pool, you are not getting paid to be polite and not shout questions, especially when the White House is choking access to a president.
So when Twitter goes after the New York Post’s Steve Nelson for asking President Joe Biden a question Thursday during South Court Auditorium remarks, that says more about Twitter cluelessness than Nelson’s behavior. Nelson was doing his job.
Here’s how Politico West Wing Playbook reported the brouhaha:
C’MON FOLKS: After turning to leave the room, Biden returned to the lectern to answer a shouted question from NBC’s PETER ALEXANDER, who asked him to address criticism over not addressing the country about the sudden proliferation of high-altitude foreign objects. But reporters on the other side of the room refused to stop shouting questions of their own. Chief among them was STEVEN NELSON of the New York Post, who asked if Biden’s ability to deal with China was “compromised by [his] family’s business interests.” Biden shot back: “Give me a break, man.” Turning to leave, he told Alexander to come to his office where “we’ll have more polite people.”
Once Biden left, NELSON and others got a dressing down from their colleagues, according to four people in the room. Reuters’ JEFF MASON, a former president of the White House Correspondents Association, told Nelson and others their behavior was “unacceptable” and “embarrassing.” NPR’s TAMARA KEITH, the current WHCA president, chimed in, calling it “unproductive.” Keith followed up in an email to WHCA members about the need for decorum.
Shouting questions at a president is a proud, decades-long tradition. But the goal here is to get him to engage, not leave entirely!
That said, Biden did call Alexander minutes later to answer his question, the NBC correspondent said in a tweet.
Really, Politico? You’re siding with a politician who won’t take a pointed question from a news outlet which Biden considers to be not friendly.
By the way, in case you missed it in above tweet, here’s the question:
“Are you compromised by your family’s business relations in China?”
That’s a great question. I hope the White House press corps follows up with this question today until the administration answers it.
Debra J. Saunders is a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Chapman Center for Citizen Leadership. Follow her on Twitter at @DebraJSaunders. Click below to sign up for free emails.
The Congress should investigate the Biden family's ties to China and any other country where Hunter and/or James have business interests.
Yup. Don't know if they filled it in when they did the Jim Brady remodel.