Chris Wallace, Jonathan Swan Call Out Biden’s Lack of Press Conferences, One-on-One Interviews

Axios’ Jonathan Swan said on Fox News Sunday that President Joe Biden should be making himself more available to the press — and not just through press conferences.

Biden has yet to hold a formal solo press conference as president since taking office, and Chris Wallace called him out over that on Fox News Sunday.

Wallace brought up the analysis that Biden has waited longer to hold his first press conference than any president going back decades.

Swan said it’s “no surprise” because “it’s an extension of what he basically did during the campaign,” while adding, “Obviously I would like him to do a press conference every week, but we should also be clear-eyed about what these press conferences do and don’t achieve. I mean, they’re largely performance art.”

“What I would love to see Biden do — not just press conferences, but serious sit-down one-on-one interviews where he can actually — not for the benefit of the interviewer, for the public — answer serious depth questions with follow-ups, because that’s where you actually test their thinking, and you actually get a sense whether there’s more understanding from them, or you get insight into their thinking of how they made decisions. You don’t get that from press conferences,” he added.

Swan said the White House may be calculating the public doesn’t care, and while “they might be right,” Biden should still be more accessible to the media.

Wallace wryly told Swan, “You and I may have our own ideas with whom he should do that first in-depth interview.”

At one point during the segment, when Wallace asked Karl Rove about the lack of press conferences, Rove said, “That could be one of their concerns, that he’s just not up to it, that at the age of 78 he’s lost a few steps and he’s not going to look good in a news conference…”

Wallace jumped in and said, “Let me just make it clear. I’m not saying that. I’m saying we know he can make gaffes, he can go off on tangents. Is that a concern that he just doesn’t stay on message?”

News broke this morning that ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos will be interviewing the president Wednesday following last week’s passage of the covid relief bill. Biden’a first one-on-one TV interview of his presidency was with CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell a few weeks ago.

You can watch above, via Fox News Sunday