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Trump has barely taken questions from reporters since Nov 3 election but has been very active on Twitter: Report

The president has taken questions from the media on just two public occasions since the presidential race ended last month, according to an analysis by CNN
UPDATED DEC 23, 2020
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

President Donald Trump has barely interacted with the press since his plans to celebrate an Election Day victory went kaput. The commander-in-chief has taken questions from the media on just two public occasions since the presidential race ended last month, according to an analysis by CNN. The outlet also found that Trump had only done one on-camera interview during that period, with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade.

According to CNN, the first time the president took questions from reporters was on Thanksgiving. At the time, Trump aired out his grievances about the 2020 election to the White House press pool, doubling down on his allegations of widespread voter fraud. He even got into a spat with Reuters reporter Jeff Mason when asked about his willingness to concede the race. "Don't talk to me that way, you're just a lightweight," Trump said. "I'm the president of the United States. Don't ever talk to the president that way."

President Donald Trump speaks to the media after presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Dan Gable in the Oval Office on December 07, 2020, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)

The second interaction came on December 8, when Trump celebrated Operation Warp Speed during a vaccine summit. The president showered praise on his administration for its work on facilitating the vaccine and once again attributed COVID-19 spikes to increased testing across the country. During the summit, one reporter asked Trump why he was hosting Christmas parties despite guidelines by public health officials. The president responded saying that there were very few celebrations and that most attendees wore masks. And when asked why he didn't include members of President-elect Joe Biden's transition team to the summit, Trump said: "Well, we're going to have to see who the next administration is."

CNN reviewed Trump's post-election schedule and found that he's had 24 days with no public events on his itinerary, 30 official White House business events, 13 public appearances open to the press, and nine golf outings. Meanwhile, Newsweek noted that Trump had answered a few questions during a White House ceremony to award the presidential medal of freedom to former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz on December 3.

A general view of the White House on December 22, 2020, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)

Outgoing Attorney General William Barr had recently announced that the justice department had found no evidence of widespread voter fraud that would overturn the results of the election. When asked about Barr's findings, Trump said the DoJ hadn't looked hard enough. And when asked whether he still had confidence in Barr, Trump said: "Ask me that in a number of weeks from now."

Meanwhile, Newsweek also reported of a few occasions where the president has appeared publicly but refrained from engaging with reporters. Trump briefly emerged in the White House briefing room on November 24 to celebrate the Dow Jones Industrial Average breaking 30,000, but left the podium without taking any questions after speaking for one minute. A couple of days later, he appeared at the White House Rose Garden to share an update on Operation Warp Speed, but once again ignored questions from the press.

On the other hand, Trump has been extremely active on Twitter, with the social media giant flagging a number of his posts for "spreading false or misleading claims" about the 2020 election. "THE DEMOCRATS DUMPED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF BALLOTS IN THE SWING STATES LATE IN THE EVENING. IT WAS A RIGGED ELECTION!!!" the President tweeted on Tuesday, thereby earning yet another "disputed claim" flag.



 

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