President Joe Biden was in Boise, Idaho, receiving a briefing from federal and state officials on the ongoing wildfires in several states out west when the White House abruptly cut the feed. While Biden appeared to follow much of the script during the briefing, he eventually asked George Geissler of the National Association of State Foresters if he could ask him a question.
“One of the things that I’ve been working on with some others is —“ Biden said before the feed was abruptly cut.
The president was visiting the National Interagency Fire Center to talk about the dangerous fires and tout his Build Back Better agenda. He talked with some of the officials about federal and state partnerships, as well as recommendations for future policies. Right before Biden’s feed had been cut, officials had been talking about various conditions related to the ongoing wildfires, including climate change. They said the conditions on the ground were getting worse by the year.
Sen. Josh Hawley’s press secretary Abigail Marone even asked why the White House live stream decided to cut out right when Biden started asking a question. He later left Idaho and set off to California, where he will talk more about wildfires, his Build Back Better agenda, and remarks ahead of Gavin Newsom’s recall election.
While Biden staffers have revealed that they are full of anxiety every time Biden opens his mouth to speak, it’s not the first time his audio feed has been cut. The first time they did it was at the beginning of March after President Biden asked reporters for questions. He was speaking with members of the House Democrat caucus, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, when he said he’d be happy to take questions if “that’s what I’m supposed to do.”
Biden even appeared to look off-camera for direction right before his image was replaced with a White House graphic. His final comment was even deleted from the video posted to the White House’s official YouTube page.
The second time staffers killed his video feed was just a few weeks ago as reporters started asking questions about Afghanistan. Biden spoke for about four minutes at a meeting on cybersecurity before he thanked the press for being there and then concluded that he was going to go private. The White House video feed was then cut immediately and without reporters asking any questions.
NBC News reporter Peter Alexander even revealed on Twitter that right after they cut the feed he asked Biden about the August 31 withdrawal deadline. Biden replied sarcastically, “You will be the first person I call.”
Even White House press secretary Jen Psaki has admitted during a press briefing that Biden is often advised by staff members not to take questions. She said the administration advises Biden to stay away from answering impromptu questions.
“That is not something we recommend. In fact, a lot of times we say ‘Don’t take questions,’ you know, but he’s going to do what he wants to do because he’s the president,” Psaki said.
NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck revealed that there would be a far different reaction if a Trump White House official made these comments.
“CNN would be running snarky commentaries day and night talking about this horrible precedent and how it was doing damage to our democracy by keeping a President of the United States from answering questions. Instead of speaking truth to power, the liberal media in 2021 have made the pivot to speaking truth for power,” Houck told Fox News.
But the big question is, who is cutting President Biden’s feed?
