President Joe Biden will finally hold a press conference on Thursday, his 64th day in office and the longest any commander in chief has waited in the modern era before holding his first question-and-answer session with journalists.
The delay has only raised the stakes. Observers will seize on every gaffe or misstep as evidence that aides deliberately held the president back for fear of embarrassing headlines.
But there are rewards for the White House, too. Frantic days of preparation mean the president is now better briefed on the work of his own administration, and the session offers a chance to reach the public, using his folksy charm to connect directly with viewers, some of whom will be rooting for him to best the press.
Here’s what viewers will want to know:
1. Why wasn’t his administration better prepared to handle an influx of immigrants at the border with Mexico?
Family separations and the caging of children at the Mexican border was one of the biggest scandals of the Trump administration, attracting the frequent condemnation and criticism of Democrats. Yet, the new administration faces its own crisis (or “challenge” in its preferred terminology) as it tries to cope with a 20-year high in the numbers of adults and unaccompanied minors trying to cross into the United States.
DELAY IN BIDEN PRESS CONFERENCE TRIGGERS TRANSPARENCY QUESTIONS
None of this should have been unexpected. For 40 years, each successive president has had to figure out quickly what to do about the border. Chad Wolf, Trump’s Homeland Security secretary, said he warned the incoming team what to expect.
Even if you let Biden argue that his rhetoric on replacing Trump’s policies with a more humane stance is not to blame, the question remains: Why is his administration doing so badly?
2. Was the president checked by a doctor after his slip and fall on the steps to Air Force One last week?
Biden tripped three times as he climbed the stairs to the aircraft on Friday, a matter of weeks since America’s oldest president fractured a bone in his foot while playing with his dog. Since then, the White House has blamed the wind and “tricky” stairs for the misstep while insisting that the president bore no ill effects.
Yet, officials have not answered questions about whether he was checked over by his traveling physician. Both his press secretary and her deputy said they were unaware whether or not this happened. Why?
3. When will troops leave Afghanistan?
Former President Donald Trump’s peace deal with the Taliban committed Washington to bringing back troops by May 1. The new administration has stonewalled questions about this deadline by saying it is reviewing its Afghanistan policy and whether the Taliban have met the terms of the agreement.
Biden said in a recent interview with ABC News that meeting the deadline would be “tough.”
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has launched a fresh diplomatic push by delivering a new peace plan to Afghanistan, which is intended to accelerate talks between Kabul and the Taliban. It suggests asking the United Nations to convene foreign ministers and envoys from Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran, India, and the U.S. to discuss a “unified approach,” unlikely to be a speedy process.
That leaves 3,500 U.S. troops and their families wondering when America’s longest war will end.
4. How tough will he get on Iran?
If the administration wants Iran to return to the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal in return for lifting sanctions, how will he pursue his second aim of an agreement that goes further and includes Tehran’s missile capability and support of terrorist groups?
That endpoint sounds strikingly like what Trump wanted, despite Biden’s frequent criticism of his predecessor’s stance and without the leverage of Trump’s big stick.
So, what is it to be? A return to the 2015 deal or something bigger and better? And how will he get there?
5. Given the president’s campaign promise of transparency, will he commit to appearing in front of the press corps once a month to take questions?
Biden has waited longer than any other president in the modern era to hold a news conference. It means the public has had less opportunity to hear him justify his policies under questioning than Presidents Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and the rest.
While the White House has brought back its daily briefing and has held no shortage of other briefings, there have been precious few opportunities to grill the nation’s chief executive. By day 50, he had done far fewer interviews (five) than his two immediate predecessors (who had done 19 and 25).
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
So, how about making these press conferences a regular thing?
