The White House on Sunday reduced media access to the press briefing room after President Biden was unable to shut down the delta or omicron variants in 2021.
While Biden has reportedly avoided addressing the American people about the coronavirus — or anything else — via a press conference for 62 days, the board of the White House Correspondents Association (WCHA) voted over the weekend to revert to the summer’s 14-spot seating arrangement.
The reduction of media presence at daily press briefings will likely negatively impact non-establishment media outlets the most. In recent months, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has been questioned about the deadly Afghan withdrawal, 40-year-high inflation, the supply chain crisis, and the coronavirus surge.
Association president Steve Portnoy emailed the news of the reduced accessibility to the organization’s members.
“Given the virulence of the spread, medical experts have once again advised that it would be prudent to substantially reduce the number of people working in the cramped, poorly ventilated workspace that we share,” Portnoy wrote.
The reduction of media access to the White House comes as Biden has skipped holding a press conference for 62 days, according to the Republican National Committee’s research team.
Biden’s last press conference was on November 2, RNC Research tweeted. That was before the omicron chaos broke out upon the nation. In the year prior, Biden had promised more than ten times that he would shut down the virus.
During Biden’s November 2 press conference, he disclosed his granddaughter worked for billionaire and former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg, suggesting he would be “in trouble” for revealing the inner web of the Biden family.
“Excuse me. I beg your pardon,” Biden said to a Bloomberg reporter. “I hope — I got it. I got it, especially since my granddaughter works for you guys. In a different circumstance. So I got it. I’m in trouble.”
It is unknown with whom Biden was “in trouble.”
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø
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