Joe Biden will be delivering his first primetime address to the nation since taking office tonight – a day that also marks fifty days without holding a formal press conference.
Donald Trump waited 28 days into his presidency before holding a press conference, while Obama waited 21 days, and Bush 34 days. Biden has gone the largest stretch without a press conference of any president in the past 100 years.
This comes despite Biden simultaneously setting records for use of executive power. Biden has issued more executive orders in this time period than any other president dating back to FDR. These executive orders have greatly weakened America’s immigration enforcement, rejoined the Paris climate agreement, re-engaged us with the WHO, launched a commission to advance racial equity and end the 1776 commission, preserve DACA, require masks on all federal properties, reverse the Trump travel ban, revoke the Keystone XL Pipeline permit, repeal the ban on transgender soldiers, lift certain restrictions on abortion funding, reopen Obamacare marketplaces, and much more.
And despite all those radical changes, he can’t be bothered to talk about it. Just this week after Biden visited a small business in Washington D.C., the press was quickly escorted out when they attempted to ask him questions.
Former Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany commented this morning on Fox; “It is extraordinary, but predictable. I remember I warned reporters, in a joking way, when it was clear Biden was the incoming president, they should get used to the feeling of not seeing a president regularly.”
She pointed to his “Basement Biden” moniker on the campaign tail as foreshadowing this. “If history was any indicator, the basement strategy would continue, just not in the basement, in the Oval,” McEnany said. “He promised to be transparent but he’s been anything but that.”
She then pointed to his lack of press conferences reflecting a lack of confidence in Biden from his own administration. “I think there is a lack of confidence from the staff. The staff knows that hiding him away worked on the campaign trail and will work for his presidency as well. I don’t think his staff sees the free-wheeling briefing room back-and-forth as the ideal communications model for President Biden.”
Speaking on a different Fox show, Kayleigh said that even left-wing outlets are starting to notice Biden’s absence (or at least are no longer pretending there isn’t one):
Earlier this month bipartisan Senators introduced legislation to strip Biden of war powers, and last month Dozens of House Democrats asked Biden to give up his nuclear authority. Before the election Pelosi began unveiling legislation that would establish a commission under the 25th amendment to determine a president’s fitness for holding office. Many believed that it was intended as a hedge against a Trump re-election, but it could just as easily be targeting a then-future Biden presidency.
That brings us to the obvious question: what do they all know about Biden that we don’t?
Matt Palumbo is the author of Dumb and Dumber: How Cuomo and de Blasio Ruined New York
