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Joe Biden snubs Fox News’ Peter Doocy and his ‘binder full of questions’, Internet says ‘better luck next time’

The Fox News reporter slammed Biden for not calling on him at the President's first press conference, saying he had questions on subjects Biden 'did not get to'

President Joe Biden held his first-ever press conference earlier on March 25, 65 days after being sworn in. The nearly hour-long conference saw the president take questions for multiple reporters, but Fox News' Peter Doocy was not one of them. Doocy claimed to have a "binder full of questions" for Biden but did not get to ask a single one. Instead, the president limited himself to responding to just 10 outlets.

Biden took questions about Covid-19, immigration, Republicans voting laws, school reopenings among other things. However, that wasn't enough for Doocy, who claimed to have questions about things Biden did not get to. Naturally, the Internet found it hilarious that the Fox News reporter was snubbed, trolling him extensively for being ignored. 

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While the moment can be brushed off, it is important to note that ignoring Fox may not be a good look for Biden. The president promised to build a united America and end partisan politics but has so far found very little common ground with Republicans. Ignoring Fox also signals that he isn't ready to respond to the opposition, which is something even his predecessor Donald Trump did not do. Even at the height of his fight against the media, Trump often fielded questions from critics like MSNBC. He did make headlines several times for refusing to do so, or walking out entirely. 

Appearing on Fox's 'America Reports' program, Doocy said, "I mentioned last night on 'Special Report' I had a binder full of questions. I think some people thought I was kidding, I was not kidding," and held up his binder. He went on to add, "We had a lot, and most of the [subjects] he did not get to. For example, nobody asked him about this big plan that he's got ... to completely transform the economy to make it all green." Doocy also noted the change in tone from Biden about working with Republicans. "He thought a lot of Republicans were going to have an epiphany as soon as Trump was gone and want to reach across the aisle to work on progressive priorities. Not only has that not happened, we know he has had very little if any outreach to Mitch McConnell." 

Biden's 64-day wait for his first press conference is the longest gap any president has had since Calvin Coolridge in 1923. The gap has become a key attack point for Republicans, who are now likely to take further issue with the fact Biden has chosen to snub his harshest critics. Reportedly, Biden's team had pre-approved certain outlets, with the president calling on reporters from a cue card. His wait is in stark contrast to his predecessors - Trump had one within seven days, Obama after 20 days, George W  Bush a month, and Clinton after nine days. 

As news of the snub made its way to the internet, many people trolled Doocy for complaining. 

'Doocy is not a reporter' says the Internet

One user trolled Doocy, saying, "To be fair, Doocy isn’t on most people’s list of “reporters”. Another tweeted, "Fox is not news. DOOCY is not a reporter. I don't see how this is hard." "Ahhhhh, too bad. Better luck next time. He had a binder of questions?" said one social media user. Who the hell carries around binders these days? asked one.

Plenty of others also used the opportunity to trash Fox. As one person tweeted, "Fox said in court they're an entertainment network. He didn't call on Disney either." Another said, "Or maybe he didn't want to be reminded of the network's laughably low standards".

"Even in pressers with Psaki all Doocy does is ask nonsense gotcha styled questions trying to get a sound bite. He’s useless" one person said. Another said, "I challenge Peter Doocy to publish his binder of questions for the sake of transparency so we can see what very important matters of public policy he wanted to explore with President Biden. Enough of the "I can turn pages, that means something" routine."

Another person tweeted, "Right wing freakout starting up because Biden didn’t take a question from Fox News flunky Peter Doocy. Good. Stop treating this extreme right wing propaganda network as a source of legitimate journalism."

Biden's first press conference was attended by 25 reporters. 14 of them were from the regular pool of reporters who attend Press Secretary Jen Psaki's daily briefings. The other seats were outsourced to the White House Correspondents’ Association.