Joe Biden threatened to throw a TikTok star’s phone in a new video.
Biden lashes out at an individual at a White House party and suggests he will throw his phone. One of his handlers then ushers him away. pic.twitter.com/TsRpbMlmw2
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 14, 2024
The White House Correspondents’ Association issued a sharp response to President Joe Biden after he expressed frustration with a question posed to him during a press conference on Thursday. Bloomberg’s Josh Wingrove had asked Biden about the war in Gaza and Hamas’ stance on his ceasefire proposal, prompting Biden to request that reporters adhere to specific topics.
“Wish you guys would play by the rules a little bit,” replied Biden. “I’m here to talk about a critical situation in Ukraine. And you ask me another subject. I’ll be happy to answer in detail later. But the bottom line is that we made an agreement. I’ve laid out an approach that has been endorsed by the U.N. Security Council, by the G7, by the Israelis. And then the biggest hang-up so far is Hamas refusing to sign on even though they have submitted something similar. Whether or not it comes to fruition remains to be seen.”
“We’re going to continue to push. I don’t have a final answer for you,” he added.
The White House Correspondents’ Association swiftly addressed Biden’s remarks with a statement emphasizing the importance of an unrestricted press conference environment:
The White House Correspondents’ Association believes it is in the public interest to make clear that at a presidential press conference, at home or abroad, there are no preconditions regarding question topics.
While the White House does determine the number of reporters the president will recognize, it is up to professional journalists to decide what to ask.
Any leader may prefer that reporters ask only one question or ask only about a topic that is of most interest to the president or another world leader, but a free press functions independently.
WHCA would welcome more opportunities to pose a range of questions to the president in a press conference setting.
