President Joe Biden is outpaced by his two most recent predecessors in the White House when it comes to interviews with reporters.
In the nine months since Inauguration Day, Biden has participated in a mere 10 interviews — and none since Labor Day, Politico reported on Tuesday. This count doesn’t include Biden stopping to make comments to reporters as he goes about his day.
Former CBS White House reporter Mark Knoller, prolific among the D.C. crowd for his encyclopedic knowledge of the institution, noted Barack Obama, who served two terms, took part in 131 “extensive” interviews at this point in 2009 and 2017, according to Politico reporter Alex Thompson.
For Donald Trump’s first and only term, that number was 57, 16 of which were at Fox News.
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The report also noted 78-year-old Biden, who has been criticized by Republicans since the 2020 campaign for “hiding in the basement,” did nearly double the number of interviews during the first nine months of his time as Obama’s vice president.
NEW: at this point in 2009 and 2017, Obama had done 131 extensive interviews and Trump had participated in 57
Biden has done just 10
None since Labor Day and just 1 since May
Our look at why Biden’s not doing extensive 1 on 1’s w/ reporters https://t.co/pi3ol8Dt8P pic.twitter.com/eA7pkZvnKN
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) October 19, 2021
The Washington Examiner reached out to the White House for comment, but the report cites a White House official who is not quoted but does talk about Biden’s preference for TV interviews due to the belief that they reach a wider audience.
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Biden has also participated in televised town halls and is set to appear in his third CNN forum on Thursday. The White House views this format as being better suited for substantive conversations and less ripe for pitfalls, according to the report.