Nicholas Fondacaro writes for Newsbusters about the legacy media’s latest misadventures.
Friday saw the first White House press briefing after President Biden’s embarrassing and disastrous press conference to address his mental acuity following a special counsel report that questioned it. While some questions posed a challenge for White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and White House Counsel Office Spokesman Ian Sams, others were more interested in how the White House was going to rehabilitate the public’s perception of Biden; one even tried to give them an easy out to explain away his cognitive decline.
After a few questions about the report Re. the classified documents in Biden’s garage, NBC senior White House correspondent and White House Correspondents Association president Kelly O’Donnell asked the first question about Biden’s brain.
O’Donnell’s primary concern was how the White House was planning to undo the public’s perception that he wasn’t mentally fit for office, which many polls showed. ……
“O’DONNELL: On the many issues related to memory, they certainly seem to prompt an angry response from the President and from his advocates. Is there anything being done to address that issue in an ongoing way? …
… National Public Radio’s Tamara Keith had similar concerns she wanted to be reassured of. “How concerned is the President and the team here that the, quote, ‘gratuitous’ comments are going to damage him, damage public perception of him?” she asked Sams. “I think the public is smart. They can see what’s going on,” he responded. …
… Keith was so set on trying to help the White House that she didn’t seem to appreciate even innocuous questions; showing open disdain for questions that got close to the controversy. …
… ABC’s Selina Wang tried to give Sams an easy out to explain why the President had “memory lapses” in the interview. She tried to hand him the excuse that he was mentally distracted by the events of October 7, but Sams was either oblivious to the aid or too proud to accept it
