Transparency restored to the White House? Biden campaign promise questioned
Haisten Willis
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President Joe Biden came into office promising to restore transparency but faces several accusations that he’s fallen short of that pledge.
Biden hasn’t held a solo press conference this year, publicly defended his son amid an ongoing investigation, and his administration was even accused of barring a reporter from remarks he made on Monday.
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“It is time for some transparency and accountability from the Biden family for the money they have received from deals with Communist China,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) tweeted May 3 in response to one of many controversies swirling around the administration.
On Biden’s first day in office, the White House pledged that his administration would “bring transparency and truth back to government,” promising to realize a campaign pledge that aides said would yield a “transparent, open” relationship with the press.
But by the Republican National Committee’s count, it has been 177 days since Biden’s last solo press conference, dating back to remarks he gave Nov. 14 in Bali, Indonesia. Biden did take press questions following his debt ceiling remarks Tuesday evening.
While many of these complaints are long-standing, a few recent incidents have brought them to the fore. Last Friday, Biden announced at the end of a meeting that he’d be doing a “major press conference” that afternoon and therefore it was time for the gathered press to hit the exits.
“I love you all, but I’d like to ask you to leave so we can get down to business,” he said.
That turned out not to be the case, as Biden was apparently referring to an interview that aired that night on MSNBC.
On Monday, Biden made an appearance with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to announce air travel reforms. The president did not respond to shouted questions, some of which concerned his lack of press access, and afterward, the New York Post claimed it had been excluded from attending. Reporter Steven Nelson, formerly of the Washington Examiner, had angered Biden in February with a shouted question about his family’s ties to China.
The White House disputed the tabloid’s account, saying routine space concerns were behind the snub.
“We always try to credential as many reporters into the room as possible,” a White House official said. “Yesterday, we credentialed about 50 reporters to cover the event in person but did not have space for roughly two dozen others. No one was singled out, and when we can’t accommodate a particular credential request, we do our best to accommodate requests at a future event.”
Biden came into office promising to restore normalcy and civility after the tumultuous Trump years. On that account, it has succeeded, according to Democratic strategist Brad Bannon.
“It’s very odd for Republicans to complain about Joe Biden’s treatment of the press after remaining deaf, dumb, and blind during the Trump presidency,” he said. “I wish they’d spoken up more during the Trump administration when he really did a number on the press.”
But Bannon agrees that Biden would benefit from doing more solo press conferences and one-on-one interviews. While Biden is known for gaffes, Bannon argues that most voters see them as humanizing the president.
Biden did raise a few eyebrows during his Friday night MSNBC interview, defending his son Hunter Biden even amid an investigation from the Department of Justice, which ultimately falls under the president’s authority.
Those interference accusations go beyond the president himself. Secretary of State Antony Blinken could be held in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena demanding the State Department hand over a July 2021 dissent cable from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Separately, the State Department is being sued by a right-leaning watchdog group for failing to turn over records related to the Global Disinformation Index, a British organization it funded that has been covertly blacklisting conservative media.
Reporters have sometimes reminded the White House of its transparency pledge, with varying degrees of success.
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“Just to be very clear, for the sake of transparency, which the president says he values,” a reporter asked press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on April 20, referring to another Hunter Biden investigation, “does the White House support giving this IRS agent whistleblower protections?”
“For the state of transparency and so that we do not politicize any of this, the president has been very clear that this is something for the Department of Justice, which is independent,” Jean-Pierre responded. “And we have been very clear since the campaign that this is something that they need to speak to. And that’s why we refer you to the Department of Justice. We’re just not going to speak about it from here.”