Principal White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was grilled about the small number of interviews and press conferences President Joe Biden has given since taking office.

KJP gaggled with reporters aboard Air Force One Friday en route to Denver, Colorado, during which she offered a familiar defense to the charge that the president is less accessible than his predecessors.

Jean-Pierre cited factors like the pandemic and the large number of questions Biden takes in informal settings in defense of the president, but that did not appear to settle the contentious exchange:

Q    Academics who study the presidency, you know, they’ve done some new research, and they have concluded that President Biden has held fewer news conferences than any of his five immediate predecessors at this same point in the presidency and he’s taken part in fewer media interviews than any of the last six White House presidents.

So, the President came into office; you all promised to be one of the most transparent administrations, if not the most transparent.  Does that vow not cover doing media interviews and talking to the press more?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I think we have.

Q    Do you think he has?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Well, I think that we have been very transparent.  I think —

Q    And not just the sprays that he does with us at the White House, but actually, you know —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  But those sprays matter.  I mean, do you guys —

Q    I’m not saying they don’t.  But beyond that, I guess is the —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I think that you have — I don’t think you can just piecemeal it.  I think you have to look at it as a whole, to be fair, right?  The President does take questions from reporters when he does events and he gets asked questions, shouted questions.  And he does that when he goes to Marine One, he does that at the end of events.  He — you know, he does that sometimes when he’s on these trips.

And a lot of times — because he wants to communicate to you all what he is — you know what he is thinking, what he’s — what his policies, and answer the questions that you all have.  And so, that has been happening.

And, you know, I feel — we believe, as an administration, we have been very transparent when it comes to COVID, when it comes to what we’re doing for — to bring our economy back, when it comes to just making sure that we’re delivering for the American public, for their needs, and meeting the moment that we’re in, especially as, when the President came into this administration, dealing with multiple crises.

So we’re going to continue to do that.  And the President is always eager to take questions.  And, you know, there’ll be more to come.

Q    But he hasn’t done any interviews with print media.  There have been some with broadcast and, of course, the town halls with CNN, but nothing yet with print media.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  You know, we’re —

Q    (Inaudible.)

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  No, I hear you.  I hear you.  This is the first year, and this has been an unprecedented year.  Right?  You know, if we’re going to look at this in a full lens, this has not been a normal year.  And so, we — there’ll be more to come.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has previously said, of those informal Q&A sessions, that “President Biden has answered questions twice as many times at these events than President Trump did at this point in time.”

President Biden participated in 6 solo and 3 joint press conferences last year, while former President Donald Trump had participated in 1 solo and 20 joint pressers his first year in office.

Listen above via The White House.

The post White House Spox Defends Biden When Grilled About Lack of Pressers and Interviews: ‘President Is Always Eager To Take Questions’ first appeared on Mediaite.

from Mediaite https://ift.tt/3naRjo5