Biden Has Done Just 3 Local News Interviews Since Taking Office, and Dem Strategists Are Starting to Complain

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Two Democratic Party strategists are criticizing President Joe Biden’s lack of availability to local media outlets, with one equating snubbing locals to a missed opportunity to reach voters.

Biden has of course been at times notoriously unavailable to the national press since he was elected. As the New York Post noted last October, Biden had only granted one-fifth of the interviews of his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, at the same point in their respective terms.

Trump of course embraced being fodder for any outlet seeking to attract viewers. But while Biden is less of a magnet for cameras than Trump was, Americans still like to hear from their presidents.

Two Democratic Party strategists, one of whom remained anonymous, told The Hill Thursday that Biden’s media unavailability, specifically with regard to local outlets in places where he might need votes, could hurt him and other Democrats.

One of the strategists noted that Biden had missed opportunities to reach Georgians while he was in Atlanta two weeks ago.

“They’re really shooting themselves in the foot by not using every tool available to them,” the person said. “It’s an opportunity to speak directly to people, especially in places where they really need to maintain support. And it doesn’t take a lot of effort.”

The Hill reported Biden has only granted a total of four interviews with local media outlets since his Jan. 20, 2021 inauguration.

Democratic strategist Joel Payne told the outlet he envisions this coming year as one where the president might change course.

Payne said, “It is certainly surprising that the president has not sat for more local interviews but I imagine you may see that ramp up in 2022.”

As the country’s top Democrat, Biden has of course taken softball questions from interviewers since before the 2020 election. He has been comfortable calling on what often appears to be a list of pre-selected reporters during press conferences.

Perhaps last year’s interview with Cincinnati’s WKRC might explain why Biden is cautious with regard to mingling with locals. During an interview in November, the station’s Kyle Inskeep left the ice cream flavor inquiries to the national press when he through Biden a curveball:

I want to turn to your polling really quickly here. The latest polling from USA Today has your approval rating at 38 percent. A new CNN poll shows 58 percent of Americans believe that you aren’t not paying enough attention to the nation’s most important issues. I’m wondering when you combine that with the election results we saw last week. Is this giving you kind of a sign that maybe you need to recalibrate some of your administration’s priorities as you approach that one-year mark in office?

Biden responded, “I didn’t run because of the polls.”