Psaki defends Prez Biden's remarks Indian media is ‘better behaved’ than US press

US President Biden has been increasingly annoyed with the American press members as they asked questions that were "not on point", White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki admitted on Monday. A report carried by American daily tabloid New York Post states that after the US leader lambasted press reporters during the meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, making remarks:  “I think, with your permission, you could not answer questions because they won’t ask any questions on point,” and “India press much better behaves than the US press corps,” US press members immediately headed to Psaki’s office to complain. They largely demand a clarification for why they were stopped from asking questions with the foreign leaders at the Oval Office. 

The incident spurred chaos in the White House as the US press lodged a protest at the conduct of their leader Biden with the American press, whom he refused to recognise in front of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and widely criticised during the meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Biden called off the reporters’ pool during the bilateral talks with Johnson. Neither did he allow the British leader to summon American press reporters or take their questions, US media reported. Instead, the American leader told his British counterpart “Good luck” when the latter asked if he could take some questions from the reporters. Johnson then allowed in two reporters from the UK who asked him questions linked with Britain’s internal affairs. 

"Would it be okay if we have just a couple of questions, just a couple?” UK PM Johnson asked, in hope of an approval from Biden, who simply responded: “Good luck."

American media interdicted out of executive mansion

On Monday, US broadcasters widely reported that the White House aides had interdicted the American media workers at the entrance after briefly chasing them out of the Oval Office. A known radio pooler from the White House Correspondents' Association President Steve Portnoy, managed to yell one single question from the midst of a restrained reporters' crowd to the US President related to the CBP agent swinging reins on Haiti migrants at the Southern border. To this, the American leader replied: "Violence is unacceptable". "That’s absurd", one reporter was quoted as saying by the New York Post tabloid as he vacated the executive mansion, seemingly upset about the whole incident.

During Monday’s daily briefing, as US press corp members raised the question again with Biden’s press Secretary, asking, as to why the American leader derided the US press in front of India’s Prime Minister, and Britain’s Johnson, she said that she didn’t believe the America leader’s comments were “hard cut”. “I would note, first, that he took questions on Friday, and he took questions again today,” Psaki told the reporters. “And I think what he said is that they’re not always ‘on point,’” she said.

“Now I know that isn’t something that anyone wants to hear in here, but what I think he was converting, as you know, today, he might want to talk about COVID vaccines [and] some of the questions were about that he might want to talk about, and some of the questions are not always about the topic he’s talking about in that day,” Psaki furthermore added.