NY Times Shreds Biden Refusal to Sit for More Interviews
Apr 28, 2024 15:50:44 GMT -5
Post by J.J.Gibbs on Apr 28, 2024 15:50:44 GMT -5
New York Times Shreds Biden Refusal to Sit for More Interviews
Carmine Sabia
April 28, 2024
When a Democrat president seeks reelection, one of the entities they rely on is the mainstream media, which tends to promote the progressive candidate against their Republican opponent.
Chief among these news organizations that tend to favor Democrats is The New York Times.
And it is an ominous sign for President Joe Biden that he appears to have ruffled the feathers of the newspaper, which is among the most popular in the nation.
A piece published by The Times has shredded the president for his lack of interviews and press conferences.
“For anyone who understands the role of the free press in a democracy, it should be troubling that President Biden has so actively and effectively avoided questions from independent journalists during his term,” a spokesperson for The Times in a press release. “The president occupies the most important office in our nation, and the press plays a vital role in providing insights into his thinking and worldview, allowing the public to assess his record and hold him to account.”
“It is true that The Times has sought an on-the-record interview with Mr. Biden, as it has done with all presidents going back more than a century. If the president chooses not to sit down with The Times because he dislikes our independent coverage, that is his right, and we will continue to cover him fully and fairly either way,” he said.
“Systematically avoiding interviews and questions from major news organizations doesn’t just undermine an important norm, it also establishes a dangerous precedent that future presidents can use to avoid scrutiny and accountability,” it said.
White House Transition Project director Martha Joynt Kumar said Biden has sat for just 89 interviews with the media since becoming president. This is the lowest number for any president by a massive margin.
During the same period of his time in the White House, former President Donald Trump gave 300 interviews, former President Obama gave 422, former President George W. Bush gave 135, former President Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush each did 168 interviews, and former President Ronald Reagan did 189 interviews.
But this is par for the course for President Biden, who spent much of his campaign during the 2020 election avoiding actual campaigning.
And he may not want to talk to the media because of his abysmal polling numbers.
According to Gallup, Biden’s approval rating is the lowest — 38.7 percent — at this point during a president’s first term in the country’s history since the polling firm began conducting its survey, the Washington Times reported.
“None of the other nine presidents elected to their first term since Dwight Eisenhower had a lower 13th-quarter average than Biden,” Gallup said, referring to the period between Jan. 20 and April 19. “From a broader historical perspective, Biden’s most recent quarterly average ranks 277th out of 314 presidential quarters in Gallup records dating to 1945. That puts it in the bottom 12% of all presidential quarters.”
Over the same period in their presidencies, former President George H.W. Bush holds the second-lowest rating at 41.8%, followed by former President Obama at 45.9%, and Trump at 46.8%, the Times added, citing Gallup’s data.
Biden’s approval rating has been falling for months now, but it took yet another hit — among Democrat voters, no less — over his support for Israel following a brutal, deadly surprise attack on the Jewish state by the Hamas terrorist organization in October.
According to Axios, citing a then-new Gallup survey, Biden’s approval rating fell 11 points in a single month among Democrats, falling to a record low of 75 percent, and that is largely due to his support for Israel.
“Biden is at risk of alienating members of his own party with his unequivocal support for Israel, which has carried out a weeks-long bombardment and total siege of Gaza in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attacks,” Axios reported.
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Carmine Sabia
April 28, 2024
When a Democrat president seeks reelection, one of the entities they rely on is the mainstream media, which tends to promote the progressive candidate against their Republican opponent.
Chief among these news organizations that tend to favor Democrats is The New York Times.
And it is an ominous sign for President Joe Biden that he appears to have ruffled the feathers of the newspaper, which is among the most popular in the nation.
A piece published by The Times has shredded the president for his lack of interviews and press conferences.
“For anyone who understands the role of the free press in a democracy, it should be troubling that President Biden has so actively and effectively avoided questions from independent journalists during his term,” a spokesperson for The Times in a press release. “The president occupies the most important office in our nation, and the press plays a vital role in providing insights into his thinking and worldview, allowing the public to assess his record and hold him to account.”
“It is true that The Times has sought an on-the-record interview with Mr. Biden, as it has done with all presidents going back more than a century. If the president chooses not to sit down with The Times because he dislikes our independent coverage, that is his right, and we will continue to cover him fully and fairly either way,” he said.
“Systematically avoiding interviews and questions from major news organizations doesn’t just undermine an important norm, it also establishes a dangerous precedent that future presidents can use to avoid scrutiny and accountability,” it said.
White House Transition Project director Martha Joynt Kumar said Biden has sat for just 89 interviews with the media since becoming president. This is the lowest number for any president by a massive margin.
During the same period of his time in the White House, former President Donald Trump gave 300 interviews, former President Obama gave 422, former President George W. Bush gave 135, former President Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush each did 168 interviews, and former President Ronald Reagan did 189 interviews.
But this is par for the course for President Biden, who spent much of his campaign during the 2020 election avoiding actual campaigning.
And he may not want to talk to the media because of his abysmal polling numbers.
According to Gallup, Biden’s approval rating is the lowest — 38.7 percent — at this point during a president’s first term in the country’s history since the polling firm began conducting its survey, the Washington Times reported.
“None of the other nine presidents elected to their first term since Dwight Eisenhower had a lower 13th-quarter average than Biden,” Gallup said, referring to the period between Jan. 20 and April 19. “From a broader historical perspective, Biden’s most recent quarterly average ranks 277th out of 314 presidential quarters in Gallup records dating to 1945. That puts it in the bottom 12% of all presidential quarters.”
Over the same period in their presidencies, former President George H.W. Bush holds the second-lowest rating at 41.8%, followed by former President Obama at 45.9%, and Trump at 46.8%, the Times added, citing Gallup’s data.
Biden’s approval rating has been falling for months now, but it took yet another hit — among Democrat voters, no less — over his support for Israel following a brutal, deadly surprise attack on the Jewish state by the Hamas terrorist organization in October.
According to Axios, citing a then-new Gallup survey, Biden’s approval rating fell 11 points in a single month among Democrats, falling to a record low of 75 percent, and that is largely due to his support for Israel.
“Biden is at risk of alienating members of his own party with his unequivocal support for Israel, which has carried out a weeks-long bombardment and total siege of Gaza in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attacks,” Axios reported.
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