Reporters continuously pressed White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday on why President Joe Biden will not hold a press conference during his upcoming meeting with world leaders.
CBS News senior White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe asked the press secretary why the press cannot witness the bilateral meetings Biden will attend with the heads of Australia, India and Japan for his final “Quad” summit at his home in Delaware on Saturday. Jean-Pierre defended the president’s lack of a press conference during an important event pertaining to foreign policy, before being confronted by Newsmax White House correspondent James Rosen.
“It was important to him to have these personal touches,” Jean-Pierre said. “It was important to him to do something that he hadn’t done before. Bring them to his home city … But there’s going to be plenty of opportunities. It’s not like we’re not allowing all of you to see many other things that are going to develop throughout the day. I mean, I just went through them. A ‘Quad’ family photo, he’s going to take them to his high school. You all are gonna be there. There’s going to be a very important announcement about Cancer Moonshot, you are all going to be there … Can you also appreciate that we have created other opportunities?”
“They’re called photo ops. That’s what you’ve created,” Rosen interrupted. “They’re not a press conference, which we would prefer.”
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O’Keefe continued, stating how it is baffling that Biden presents himself to be “the most transparent president possible” and one that supports the freedom of press.
“What I was going to suggest is, it baffles people in this room, especially people who are watching this and wondering why we harp on these kinds of things, what baffles us is this is a president who from day one committed to be the most transparent president possible, who has given speeches at various events saying that he stands for and respects the freedom of the press,” O’Keefe said. “And here is a great opportunity while standing with the leader from the world’s largest democracy, India, and two other key democracies who are from a region of the world who is struggling to maintain democracy. Why not face questions from reporters of the free press in that setting?”
Jean-Pierre said it is “not unusual” to not hold a press conference when world leaders visit the U.S., before snapping at Rosen as he began speaking again.
“Excuse me, excuse me, I’m not speaking to you, I really am not. Let me have my conversation with Ed,” Jean-Pierre told Rosen. “Let me have my conversation with Ed, thank you.”
The press secretary added that there are many opportunities for reporters to be present during the “Quad” summit, and even suggested photo ops can be a positive thing.
Featured Image Credit: The White House
