President Biden’s interview with Howard Stern received attention after the New York Times criticized him for avoiding the press more than any other modern president. Stern’s questions covered a range of topics, including praising Biden’s new airline reimbursement policy and discussing personal anecdotes from the president’s life. This interview added to Biden’s limited interview tally, as he has conducted the fewest in-office interrogations of any recent chief executive, according to a count by Martha Joynt Kumar, the director of the White House Transition Project. Kumar’s count showed that Biden has given just 89 total interviews during his first three years in office, compared to previous presidents who had given significantly more interviews by this point in their first terms.
When President Biden does give interviews, they are often with friendly outlets like MSNBC, and recordings are sometimes held back for days before being released. This limited accessibility to the press has raised concerns, with the New York Times urging Biden to sit down for interviews with independent news outlets to provide more insight into his thinking and worldview. The Times’ statement noted that Biden’s avoidance of interviews with major news organizations undermines an important norm and sets a dangerous precedent for future presidents to avoid scrutiny and accountability.
Biden’s interactions with the press have been criticized for being staged, with the president reading answers off notecards after taking questions from a pre-selected list of reporters during solo White House press conferences or joint appearances with world leaders. The lack of spontaneity in these interactions has raised questions about the transparency of the administration and its willingness to engage with independent journalists. Critics argue that the president’s avoidance of in-depth interviews with major news organizations limits the public’s ability to assess his record and hold him accountable for his decisions.
While the White House has defended Biden’s availability to the press by citing impromptu question-and-answer sessions during walks to Marine One and other occasions, critics argue that these interactions are not conducive to thorough questioning due to helicopter noise and time constraints. The limited number of interviews conducted by Biden in comparison to his predecessors has fueled concerns about transparency and accountability in his administration. As the president continues to face criticism for avoiding interviews with independent news outlets, the debate over his accessibility to the press and the public scrutiny of his decision-making process is likely to intensify in the future.
