At the end of a year since his rule, how did Biden succeed in hiding away from the media?

Some analysts attribute Biden's lack of press conferences in which he responds directly and quickly to reporters' questions to his advisers' fear that he would make major mistakes by losing focus given his advanced age.

US President Biden and Vice President Harris give speeches at Atlanta University Center Consortium

Washington Post opinion writer Dana Milbank surprised his readers on December 3 with an article that many commentators found strange, titled "Biden treats the media as badly as Trump or worse, and here Guide".

Using one of the advanced algorithms, he confirmed that "the press coverage that Biden received in the first 11 months of 2021 is worse than the coverage that his predecessor, Donald Trump, received in the same period in 2020."

The result surprised many observers who witnessed a very turbulent relationship between Trump and the media, while Biden spoke little to the media and did not engage in battles with journalists or news networks as his predecessor did.

While Trump's news and statements dominated the media from his political appearance until the last minutes of his rule, Biden was characterized by calm in his relationship with the media, which some see as boring.

With the outbreak of the Corona virus, Trump dominated the daily briefing in the White House, and his daily press conference became an important material for ridicule and satire on the president, who in turn did not stop his attacks on journalists.

Trump took a hostile stance towards the media, leaving no opportunity but accusing the press of "falsifying facts" and that the press was "the enemy of the people." On the contrary, the media blame President Biden for his excessive hiding away from the media platforms, especially his absence from informing Americans of the developments of the "Covid-19" outbreak.

As President Joe Biden's administration approaches the end of his first year, there is an emphatic fact that Biden is less involved than Trump and the rest of his predecessors in press conferences or interviews with the visual and written media.

According to the US Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Biden has held only 9 press conferences so far, which is less than half the number of 22 press conferences held by Donald Trump in his first year in office.

In his interaction with the media, Biden has given only 22 press interviews since taking office until December 31, while Trump has given 92 interviews.

Biden outperformed Trump in receiving and responding to questions while walking or on the sidelines of his movement in unofficial pictures, as he spoke 216 times to reporters, compared to 120 times when Trump spoke and only 46 to Obama.

Biden prefers to answer questions at the end of his speeches, or before boarding the presidential plane to or from the White House.

Some attribute this discrepancy to Biden's slow pace and less formality, meaning that it is not surprising that he preferred impromptu question-and-answer situations with reporters rather than scheduled press appearances. This is also a relic of the three decades a Senator spent in the corridors of Congress, where most interactions with journalists are both casual and quick.

Avoid Biden's mistakes and omissions

Many journalists asked Jen Psaki, the White House spokeswoman, about Biden's lack of clear participation with the media, and she replied that Biden "came to the presidency during two historical crises: the Corona epidemic, which the country had not experienced before, and a severe economic crisis due to the repercussions of the epidemic, This has left 10 million people without work.

Some analysts attribute Biden's lack of press conferences in which he responds directly and quickly to reporters' questions to his advisors' fear that he will make major mistakes due to his lack of focus given his advanced age.

Last year, Biden made two major mistakes during press interviews, which prompted the White House to intervene to correct the administration's position in both cases.

In a televised interview last March with ABC, Biden indicated that he considered Russian President Vladimir Putin a "murderer." A few months later, in an interview with CNN, and in response to a question about whether his country would intervene militarily if China launched an attack on Taiwan, Biden replied by saying, "Yes, we have an obligation to do so, and we will intervene militarily and defend Taiwan." ".

This prompted the White House to issue a statement confirming that there had been no change in Washington's policy, which considers Taiwan a part of China, while rejecting any military steps taken by Beijing to annex the island.

Covering Biden's policies

White House Chief of Staff Ron Klein retweeted Milbank's article, sharing it with criticism of some of the media's coverage of Biden.

Many media professionals, especially those close to the Republican Party, responded by saying that it is very difficult not to attack Biden's policy and his position on the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, and it is difficult to ignore the fact that inflation rates have reached their highest rates in 40 years, especially after Biden has spent trillions of dollars in attempts to To reduce inflation.

According to a Pew Research Center study, Trump received positive coverage by only 5% of the mainstream media, while rates of impartial coverage were 33%, and Biden's positive or neutral coverage was 68%.

The media takes clear positions on Biden, and has taken similar positions towards Trump. At a time when CNN and MSNBC are lenient with Biden, Fox is stalking President Biden. , while the situation was reversed in the era of President Trump, who tolerated the Fox alum and was subjected to non-stop attacks from other networks.

Biden's media tradition and Trump's legacy

Many media professionals criticize the Biden administration's traditional handling of the media, and while Trump has allowed all journalists, even those working with small and foreign media, to question, the Biden administration receives both in the daily briefings of spokeswoman Psaki, and on Biden's few appearances, questions mostly from the media. And only major US television networks.

Representatives of the foreign media in the US capital complain of limited access to the president, a slow response to interviews and press questions, as well as restrictions on immigration coverage at the US-Mexico border.

Jane Psaki responds to the complaints by saying that when she took up her job as a White House spokeswoman, respect in dealing with journalists was her most important goal. "Our goal is to restore normalcy and traditional engagement with journalists," she said.