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Hidin’ Biden? POTUS trolled for avoiding press interviews during 1st year in office

Biden has reportedly given 22 press interviews till December 31 — far below his predecessors, Donald Trump (92) and Barack Obama (156)

President Joe Biden was targeted by a number of mainstream media publications on Sunday, December 9, as he continued to avoid press interviews during his first year in office. One of the media outlets branded him "Hidin’ Biden."

Reportedly, Biden has only given 22 press interviews through December 31, 2021 — a number that is well below his predecessors, Donald Trump, 92; Barack Obama, 156; George W. Bush, 49; Bill Clinton, 54; and George H.W. Bush, 46. So far, Biden’s 22 media interviews have included one-on-one sessions with journalists from networks such as CNN, MSNBC. It also involved regional television interviews via Zoom, conversations with late-night host Jimmy Fallon and ESPN’S Sage Steele. Compared to him, Trump did interviews with ABC News, The Associated Press, the New York Times, Reuters, and other outlets apart from his trusted Fox News, during his first year in office. 

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“As Biden wraps up his first year in the White House, he has held fewer news conferences than any of his five immediate predecessors at the same point in their presidencies, and has participated in fewer media interviews than any of his recent predecessors,” the Associated Press reported. “The dynamic has the White House facing questions about whether Biden, who vowed to have the most transparent administration in the nation’s history, is falling short in pulling back the curtain on how his administration operates and missing opportunities to explain his agenda.” Politico summarized the AP’s report by writing, “HIDIN’ BIDEN — If you feel like you haven’t seen many sit-down interviews with Biden in his first year as president, it’s probably because you haven’t."

Steven Portnoy, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association and a reporter for CBS New Radio, slammed Biden for avoiding answering the media’s questions. “Fleeting exchanges are insufficient to building the historical record of the president’s views on a broad array of public concerns. We have had scant opportunities in this first year to learn the president’s views on a broad range of public concerns,” Portnoy said. “The more formal the exchange with the press, the more the public is apt to learn about what’s on the man’s mind.”

'Least transparent President in modern history'

Anti-Biden users on social media were quick to pile on the president after the media called him out for lack of transparency. "Least transparent President in modern history. #HidinBiden," one of them said, while another tweet quoted Politico's “HIDIN’ BIDEN" headline before remarking, "Mainstream Media Hits Biden For Avoiding News Inerviews". A third commented, "'LET'S GO BRANDON!' If anything, this was an exhortation to get Jurassic Joe out of the White House bunker and into the public eye and collective mindset. GOP scoffers challenged him to simply 'show up!' And he did not. Which brings us regrettably to HIDIN' BIDEN!" A commenter tweeted, "HIDIN' BIDEN COUNTDOWN, 1126 DAYS TO GO... MAYBE LESS..." A person reacted with, "Weekend at Biden’s...he's in the basement watching I Love Lucy."

However, supporters of the POTUS called out the media, as they compared Biden to Trump and other predecessors. "So he does not mimic his predecessors, so what? It appears the media has become pessimist that nitpick at Biden and do not see the good he has done under difficult situations that America is facing right now. I guess the media would rather a madman call them liars and fake news," one of them said, while another noted, "So? Wtf Is wrong with all of you Biden’s worst day is still 1000 times better than Trump’s pretty good day." A third commented, "Um, there’s a lot of cleanup from the last guy. Also a pandemic. But go ahead and be a**holes." One more wrote, "Has he called the press “the enemy of the people” more or less than his predecessor?" Another stated, "Leave @potus alone! He’s working 24/7 while the rest of us are having nervous breakdowns over @hbomax crashing!"