The White House called a “lid” at 1:13 p.m. on Monday, signaling President Biden was not due to make any public appearances during the rest of the day despite growing questions about the emergency at the border, his administration’s commitment to transparency, and his work rate.
In contrast, former President Donald Trump saturated headlines with two media appearances while surrogates, including his former spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany, heaped further pressure on 78-year-old Biden.
Trump used an appearance on Fox News to condemn the transparency of Biden’s administration.
“There is none,” he said. “And, you know, I guess you’re supposed to have a press conference on Thursday. But the questions will all be softballs.”
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On Monday, White House officials called a lid — the arcane term used when the president has finished his public appearances for the day –— soon after Biden’s press secretary finished briefing reporters and much to the amazement of Trump-era staff.
Judd Deere, White House deputy press secretary under Trump, asked pointedly on Twitter, “On a non-holiday, working Monday?”
The lid does not mean the president has finished his work for the day. The White House public schedule notes that Biden is due to hold a virtual meeting with the Senate Democratic Caucus in the evening.
The White House declined to answer questions about what the president would be doing with the rest of his afternoon.
However, the early lid is reminiscent of a tactic used on the campaign trail when Biden’s team was keen to keep a low profile and allow Trump to dominate coverage. In one stretch, he called lids at 9:22 a.m., 9.20 a.m., 1:02 p.m., and 8.34 a.m. during one September week.
It was part of a strategy to allow the former president to dig himself further into trouble over the worsening COVID-19 pandemic and his administration’s response.
This time it is Biden who faces trouble, under intense pressure to explain what is happening with a surge of migrants at the border. His press secretary has been asked again and again when journalists will be allowed to visit facilities housing unaccompanied migrant children who have sought asylum at the border with Mexico.
Trump’s former press secretary McEnany appeared on Fox News to take up the issue shortly after the White House lid.
“This is becoming such a drumbeat, and I’ve got to imagine the only reason that they’re keeping press out and allowing this kind of narrative to set in is, because the conditions are bad, and they know it would enrage their progressive base,” she said.
Biden is scheduled to give his first press conference on Thursday — 64 days into his presidency. The delay represents the longest a new president has gone without a formal question-and-answer session in the past century.
And it comes after the president suffered a mishap on Friday, stumbling and falling three times as he climbed the stairs to Air Force One before traveling to Georgia.
The White House blamed blustery weather for the fall.
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“It’s pretty windy outside,” deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard the presidential aircraft. “It’s very windy. I almost fell coming up the steps myself.”
Pressed about Biden’s slip-and-fall on Monday, Psaki said of her boss: “He’s good.”
