AN INQUIRING PRESS USED TO BE GOOD. Perhaps you remember those days long, long ago, from 2017 to 2021, when many members of the White House press corps took a strongly adversarial position toward the administration of President Donald Trump. As they confronted and grilled White House officials, some journalists were cheered on by late-night comedians who seemed to compete with each other for the most creative ways to insult the president. And when Trump hit back, they hit back harder. Perhaps you remember when Stephen Colbert said to Trump, “The only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin’s cock holster.” He really said that. That’s the level the dialogue could descend to.
That was then. Now, a Democrat, Joe Biden, is in the White House. And any reporter who takes an inquiring position toward the administration, not a fully adversarial stance, just an inquiring position, does not enjoy the cheers and affirmation from the same late-night hosts. Take the case of Fox News’s Peter Doocy and, again, Stephen Colbert.
On his recent trip to Europe, Biden made some statements about the war in Ukraine that were deeply concerning to both the public and other governments.
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The first came when Biden held a news conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. He was asked about the possibility Russia would use chemical weapons in Ukraine, which administration sources had discussed in recent days. Would that trigger a military response from NATO? “It would trigger a response in kind,” Biden said. “We’d make that decision at the time.”
The “in kind” part of Biden’s answer set off a lot of alarms. Was he saying the United States might use chemical weapons? National security adviser Jake Sullivan later clarified to state that “the United States has no intention of using chemical weapons, period, under any circumstances.”
The second moment came when Biden visited U.S. troops stationed in Poland. In remarks to the group, Biden spoke as if those troops would be going to Ukraine. Discussing the heroism of Ukrainians fighting Russian invaders, Biden said, “You’re going to see when you’re there. Some of you have been there. You’re going to see women, young people, standing — standing in the middle of, in front of a damn tank, just saying, ‘I’m not leaving. I’m holding my ground.'”
Biden has, of course, ruled out U.S. forces going to Ukraine. So his remarks caused immediate concern among just about everybody. In short order, a White House spokesperson told the press, “The president has been clear we are not sending U.S. troops to Ukraine, and there is no change in that position.”
The third instance came during Biden’s speech in Warsaw, when he said of Putin, “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.” Biden’s statement — it was ad-libbed and not, as officials later pointed out, in the written text of the speech — raised the question of whether the U.S. intends to pursue a policy of regime change in Russia. Yet again, administration officials rushed to assure the world that Biden didn’t really mean what he had appeared to say. “The president’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region,” a White House official told Fox News. “He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia or regime change.”
So Biden had raised international concerns in not one, not two, but three instances. That’s a problem worth talking about — and, for the press, worth asking about.
Fast forward to Biden’s White House news conference on Monday. Reporters asked Biden about his regime change remarks — it was the subject of the first three questions — and Biden answered that he was “expressing the moral outrage” that he feels toward Putin. But no reporter put the regime change issue in the context of Biden’s other gaffes about chemical weapons and troops in Ukraine. Indeed, those were not mentioned.
Until Doocy. “Are you worried that other leaders in the world are going to start to doubt that America is back if some of these big things that you say on the world stage keep getting walked back?” Doocy asked. Biden responded by asking what is getting walked back. Doocy gave the president a list. “Just in the last couple of days, it sounded like you told U.S. troops they were going to Ukraine,” he began. “It sounded like you said it was possible the U.S. would use a chemical weapon. And it sounded like you were calling for regime change in Russia.”
Biden denied it all. “None of the three occurred,” he said, going on to claim that Doocy was misinterpreting his remarks on all three occasions. Doocy pressed Biden on his intent, and Biden held his ground.
Biden’s explanation did not seem entirely plausible, but the exchange was what news conferences are about. The president had said a number of things. A journalist asked him to explain what those statements meant. It was inquiring journalism — not the adversarial conflicts of the previous administration, but just plain old inquiring journalism.
But it upset Colbert. “President Biden held a press conference,” Colbert said on his show Tuesday night. “And he was asked a ridiculous question by a ridiculous man: Fox News reporter and that one kid in high school who wears a suit to gym glass, Peter Doocy.” Colbert then played video of Doocy asking “what does that mean” about Biden’s chemical weapons “response in kind” comment. Colbert thought it was ridiculous for Doocy to ask such a thing.
“Remember how on last night’s show I said that slapping is never, ever the answer?” Colbert said, referring to actor Will Smith’s attack on comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars ceremony. Then Colbert continued: “I’d like to file a one-time exemption on behalf of the president of the United States.” The crowd whooped. Then Colbert played another Doocy question when Doocy pressed again on Biden’s chemical weapons remark. Colbert took on a mocking voice and, apparently mimicking Doocy, said, “Uh, Peter Doocy, Fox News. I’ve got two more questions. First, what are the exact locations of all of America’s troops? And can you give me the nuclear launch codes? Just tell me — is one of them four? Can I buy a vowel, Mr. President?”
You get the point. Colbert, and many others, loved it when reporters pressed Trump on the various things Trump said. But Biden — not so much. Yes, it’s partisanship. And yes, it’s hypocrisy. And yes, it’s funny only to the true believers in Colbert’s audience. But it’s the way the politico-entertainment complex works. Don’t expect that to change until a Republican returns to the White House.
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