I am a strong supporter of a free press and I too was greatly disappointed and angered by how the White House press corps largely behaved in the conference today.  These and other reporters/columnists have been beaten up, insulted, lied to, ignored, played with and otherwise manipulated and abused by Trump and his minions for 5 years.  They obviously don’t know how to behave in the presence of a reasonable, competent, decent, experienced, honorable leader any longer.  They don’t seem to know how to deal without a major bomb going off every day, a new scandal being ignited with every Trump tweet. They’d better learn fast. 

See below the interesting, entirely accurate Twitter Thread by Jess Coleman about the President Biden press conference today which we watched closely. 

1. President Biden’s press conference today was an embarrassment… for the press. Over the course of an hour, reporters managed to fuel right-wing talking points, poke around for controversy that doesn’t exist, and reveal almost nothing valuable. Let’s review:
2. Echoing right-wing media, reporters consistently asked about an increase of immigrants reaching our border, a totally normal occurrence for this time of year (and hardly an emergency worthy of multiple questions).
3. Despite Biden breaking new ground on his willingness to curtail the filibuster, reporters framed his answer as a hypocritical refusal to abolish the filibuster despite admitting it is a “relic of Jim Crow.”
4. Just two months into his term, multiple reporters asked Biden whether he will run for re-election in 2024, and one asked the extremely bizarre question of whether he’ll drop Kamala Harris from the ticket.
5. Not one reporter asked about the pandemic, the surge in vaccinations, or the historic stimulus bill passed by Democrats and signed by Biden.
6. This all followed a relentless effort by the media to paint the lack of a presidential press conference – two months into Biden’s term – as a major scandal. In doing so, the media proved exactly why Biden should never hold another.
7. After four years of hitting President Trump with softball questions and little follow-up, reporters spent their first opportunity with President Biden desperately searching for controversy that does not exist, and ignored the historic successes Biden has already accomplished.
8. Here’s the reality: On the major issues on voters’ minds – the pandemic and the economy – Biden and Democrats are absolutely killing it. In a media environment where scandal and conflict are what get clicks, reporters needed something else. They failed to find it.
9. The plain reality is that Democrats want to fix the country’s problems and Republicans do not. Period. The media, unsurprisingly, is unequipped to tell that story. They rather search for a boths-sides showdown that simply isn’t there

Bonnie Doone reply —
I agree. The reporter bearing down on whether he planned to run for President again and when he planned to announce was ridiculous. Pres Biden even laughed. He was full of information & grace; the press seemed to be still in Trump mode. No one even asked about Covid response.

David W reply –
It’s similar to the almost daily briefings by Jen Psaki. I don’t know how she keeps her cool and sense of humor. The press needs to shape up. We have a real president again.