© Provided by Washington Examiner The White House says President Biden has been too busy tackling the pandemic to hold a press conference and will not set a date for his first solo appearance before reporters.
Officials have been under mounting pressure to explain why Biden has waited longer than his 15 immediate predecessors, who all held press conferences within their first 33 days, according to one analysis, in facing questions alone.
And critics say it is difficult to reconcile his reticence in office with campaign promises to restore faith in the media after four years of "fake news" attacks by former President Donald Trump.
On Friday, press secretary Jen Psaki said the White House looks forward to holding a full press conference by the end of the month and claimed Biden had taken questions in more informal settings on almost 40 occasions.
WHEN WILL BIDEN HOLD HIS FIRST PRESS CONFERENCE?
However, reporters in the White House briefing room quickly pointed out that the brief exchanges after speeches or during meetings in the Oval Office were often at a distance, making their questions and his answers difficult to hear.
Psaki said: "This president came in during a historic crisis," two historic crises, "a pandemic like the country had not seen in decades and decades, and an economic downturn that left tens of millions of people out of work."
"So, I think the American people would certainly understand if the president's focus and his energy and attention has been on ensuring we secure enough vaccines to vaccinate all Americans, which we will do by the end of May, and in pushing for a rescue plan that will provide direct checks to almost 160 million Americans," the spokeswoman said. "That's where his time, energy has been. In the meantime, he takes questions multiple times a week."
Biden fielded four shouted questions in the Oval Office a day earlier as he met House members to discuss infrastructure proposals.
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The White House transcript of the exchange recorded the fourth question as: "Does the proposal include the Gateway Project, Mr. President?"
And the answer from Biden: "I'm sorry. Can't hear him. Thank you all for coming in. Thank you."
Tags: News, White House, Jen Psaki, Joe Biden, White House Press Corps, Media
Original Author: Rob Crilly
Original Location: Psaki: Biden has been too busy with pandemic for first press conference