LETTER FROM WASHINGTON

“I’m going to give a big press conference this afternoon. » Journalists accredited to the American President were still banned from hearing these words, which Joe Biden spoke on May 5 in the White House in the preamble to a working meeting. Nothing in the official program. The astonishment was all the greater because he hadn’t engaged in this exercise since the beginning of the year. In reality, Joe Biden’s tongue had split. He wanted to talk about a 13-minute interview that was granted to MSNBC and aired that evening. A short format and a smug antenna that allowed him to complain again about the treatment of information on television. “Everything is negative”he said.

On April 29, at the Correspondents’ Dinner at the White House, Joe Biden paid an agreed tribute to the press: “Pillar” of democracy. His speech, honed by his advisors, also contained a very revealing joke. “This dinner encapsulates the first two years of my tenure in many ways. I talk for ten minutes, don’t answer any questions and walk away happy. » The laughter was strained.

Unlike Donald Trump, Joe Biden never viewed journalists as such “Enemies of the People”. He didn’t single her out for mob justice. But he avoids her. His advisors developed this avoidance strategy because they wanted to protect the 80-year-old president, who is known for his mistakes, at all costs. But that won’t resolve questions about the Democratic candidate’s physical and mental health ahead of the 2024 election.

To everyone’s surprise, on May 9, Joe Biden agreed to answer a series of questions after reading a weary and hoarse tone to a speech about the budget negotiations with the Republicans. But for the time being, the bunker mentality dominates. The daily press briefings at the White House are very boring, although John Kirby drops in regularly to give more material on security and foreign policy issues.

It is Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, who is defining the government’s ideological coherence as interventions have been expanded, but without contradiction, before circles of reflection such as the Brookings Institution on April 27. The President, on the other hand, has still not granted an extensive interview to general American dailies. He preferred the big chains like ABC or CBS.

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