White House Rips Axios For ‘Hiding’ Their Response To Biden Age Item — Read Full Comments Here

Allison Bailey/NurPhoto via AP

The White House ripped Axios for failing to include their full responses to an article about the effect of President Joe Biden’s age on his schedule and his presidential campaign.

The article by Alex Thompson dropped Friday, and it’s the latest in a blizzard of pieces examining Biden’s age since his official campaign launch this week. This one includes a breakdown of Biden’s schedule and poses Nikki Haley’s prediction the president will die in office as a political problem for Biden.

There are also copious anonymous quotes and paraphrases about Biden’s schedule, and some very brief responses on the record from the White House press shop.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jen O’Malley Dillon told the outlet their reporting on Biden’s age and it’s effect on his schedule was “false.”

Thompson also included a statement from Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates that read “To quote a young, healthy, and capable AP reporter’s tweet about the president energetically mixing with service members in the middle of a long trip back to the U.S. from Asia: ‘I am so tired.'”

But according to emails obtained by Mediaite, some of what the White House told Thompson did not end up in the report. For example, in response to the criticisms about the president taking questions, Thompson wrote “Biden’s team points to scores of brief Q&A ‘interactions’ he’s had with reporters, along with the access he’s given to largely sympathetic social media influencers and others.”

However, the White House provided Thompson with detailed data on those interactions, some of which was first reported by Mediaite earlier this month. They also told Thompson “POTUS took nearly 40 questions in Ireland across 5 interactions, including at 2:30am on the tarmac.”

The article also omitted a pointed jab from Bates, who said of the anonymous sources quoted and paraphrased in the article ““Are these the same ‘advisers and close allies’ who you wrote on April 3 ‘don’t expect him to announce a run for re-election any time soon?’”

That article, also by Thompson, said Biden’s announcement “could come as late as July, or perhaps even the fall.”

The White House has long argued that Biden — who lags well behind other presidents when it comes to formal press conferences as well as sit-down interviews (pandemic restrictions notwithstanding) — prefers the informal Q&A setting because of his decades as a U.S. senator.

Here’s the full White House response to Thompson’s inquiry for the report:

On the record from me about the whole premise: “Are these the same ‘advisers and close allies’ who you wrote on April 3 ‘don’t expect him to announce a run for re-election any time soon?’ To quote a young, healthy, and capable AP reporter’s tweet about the President energetically mixing with service members in the middle of a long trip back to the U.S. from Asia: ‘I am so tired.’”

On the parts about age and schedule, from JOD: “False.”

LaBolt’s previous comment about media strategy: “Since President Biden took office, we have restored the tradition of a daily press briefing, regular access to Cabinet officials, and the President himself – President Biden has held nearly 400 question and answer sessions with reporters since he took office. Our ultimate goal is to reach the American people wherever and however they consume media, and that’s not just through the briefing room or Washington-based news outlets, but through digital platforms, all forms of broadcast, regional press and outlets that represent diverse communities across the country. The fracturing of the media and the changing nature of information consumption requires a communications strategy that adapts to reach Americans where they get the news.”

Background on questions:

Through April 2023, President Biden has had nearly 400 Q&A interactions with reporters, in addition to more formal press conferences and interviews. We have more data as of the 20 month mark across other presidencies (from WH Transition Project): President Biden had informal Q&A interactions significantly more frequently than any recent predecessor besides Clinton. Would point you to the below chart from NBC which runs through September 2022, which NBC sourced to Martha Kumar of the White House Transition Project. The NBC story published the Obama and Biden Informal Q&A numbers through that equivalent point in the administration, the other numbers they sent us as part of the inquiry.

INFORMAL Q&As

Biden 326

Trump 255

Obama 68

Bush 43 224

Clinton 373

Bush 41 118

Reagan 75

I will also note: POTUS took nearly 40 questions in Ireland across 5 interactions, including at 2:30amon the tarmac.

Reporters are not obligated to print every word of what news subjects give them in response to an inquiry — but those omissions are a reflection of editorial decision-making.