The White House and a newspaper deny collusion this week when a reporter asked US President Joe Biden a question very similar to the one written on a card Biden was holding as he appeared in front of reporters in the Garden. of Roses from the White House.
“We don’t have specific questions in advance. That’s not something we do,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded when asked at Thursday’s briefing about the president’s pocket card, titled “Question #1,” which contained the name and photo of Los Angeles Times correspondent Courtney Subramanian, along with a question: “How are you balancing your domestic priorities, such as the relocation of semiconductor manufacturing, with political based on the alliance?”
Close-up images of the card were captured by several news photographers in the Rose Garden.
Biden, joined by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday, first called Subramanian, who asked: “His top economic priority has been to build America’s domestic manufacturing in competition with China, but his rules against expanding US manufacturing Chips in China are hurting South Korean companies that are heavily dependent on Beijing. Is it hurting a key ally in the competition with China to help its domestic politics ahead of the election?”
Biden responded with a lengthy and nuanced comment on the subject.
“It seems that there is collusion”
Jean-Pierre explained the next day that Subramanian was one of two correspondents called in by Biden because California has the largest Korean-American community of any state in the United States.
“We are aware of who we choose and who we want to communicate with,” added Jean-Pierre.
His answer did not satisfy the meeting room audience. Among those denied the opportunity to ask a follow-up question on the matter was Jon Decker, a White House correspondent for Gray Television, whose career spans 16 White House press secretaries and five presidencies.
“I was just trying to ask you: Is it your opinion that the question that everyone could read on that so-called cheat sheet was not similar to the question that was asked at the White House press conference? And it was similar,” he told the VOA.
“I have never seen a case where the president gets a question from a reporter covering the president at a pre-announced press conference at the White House,” Decker added. “It really reflects badly on the White House press corps, and it reflects badly on the White House for allowing that to happen. It seems like there’s collusion going on, and for the public that has mistrust, skepticism and even disdain for the media, It doesn’t put us in a good light.”
The White House continued to reject the investigations after Thursday’s briefing.
“Karine addressed this very clearly and thoroughly in the boardroom today,” Senior Assistant Press Secretary Olivia Dalton responded to the VOAwho attempted to continue the topic of questions previously submitted to the chair.
Subramanian has not commented. His newspaper issued a statement to questions from media organizations.
“Our reporter did not submit any questions prior to the question-and-answer session with President Biden,” said Hillary Manning, vice president of communications for the Los Angeles Times. Subramanian “is in regular contact with the White House press office seeking information for his reporting. You would have to ask the White House who prepared the document for the president and why they included that question.”
April Ryan, the Washington bureau chief of The Grio, who refers to herself as the longest-serving black journalist covering the White House, said that while it’s not unusual for presidents to have a card listing the journalists that could potentially be called, I had never seen one that contained a photo of the reporter and the “actual question itself”.
Ryan told VOA It’s routine before news conferences for the president and his directors, who help him with messages, to discuss potential questions, but what happened on Wednesday seemed unprecedented.
Kayleigh McEnany, press secretary in the previous Donald Trump administration, on the set of Fox News on Thursday, said that “it’s very unusual to have the question as specific as semiconductors in regards to written and written alliances for the president.”
A correspondent, who asked not to be named and covers the White House for a foreign station, told the VOA: “It raises questions not just of President Biden needing a notice to find answers, but also of transparency about how the White House chooses who gets to ask questions. It’s frustrating for journalists who aren’t in his inner circle.”
Reagan, Bush, had a seating plan
White House Correspondents Association president Tamara Keith of National Public Radio declined to comment on the matter. The association noted that it has no say in who is called by the presidents at press conferences.
During the Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush administrations, presidents had a seating chart so they knew where to find a sympathetic interrogator, said Charles Bierbauer, who was ‘s senior White House correspondent from 1983-93.
“The guessing game between the press and the White House has long been about who might ask the president what at press conferences,” he told the press. VOA.
“I remember the presidential advisers happily telling us when they anticipated each question. My pattern was to be ready for the questions I knew I had to ask, but always have an unconventional question as well,” recalled Bierbauer, distinguished professor and dean emeritus of the College of Information and Communications at the University of South Carolina.
It’s not uncommon for the White House to let a reporter know it will be called during a news conference and ask him what he might ask, according to former CBS Radio White House correspondent Mark Knoller, who has covered eight presidents since Gerald Ford to Trump.
“As a reporter, I always prepared questions on a number of topics,” Knoller told VOA. “Most of the time, the White House knows what topics a reporter is interested in based on questions in briefings and prior press office inquiries. I can’t believe a reporter worth his salt would give a detailed question up front. “.
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