Today, the Biden campaign held a ceremony during which Joe Biden and Kamala Harris signed documents to get their names on November ballots as the Democratic ticket. “We’re going to make this official, official,” Biden told reporters.
According to the New York Post, “media availability” at the event was “tightly controlled.” Naturally, the assembled reporters wanted to ask questions of the candidates. They didn’t come just to watch Biden and Harris silently put pen to paper.
But the press was only able to get in one question, which was directed to Harris. When reporters started to ask more questions, they were told to leave. “Come on guys, let’s go,” a female staffer said several times. “Tightly controlled” is an understatement.
You can see the video here, at Red State.
What I find striking was the media’s compliance. When the staffer instructed reporters to leave, the lions of the press shuffled off. No one asked any more questions. At the command of a Biden staffer, the press exited stage right without a murmur.
Compare this to the way reporters behave with President Trump. When he leaves press events, reporters shout questions at him until he disappears. To be fair, reporters also did this to past presidents, though not as stridently.
In Biden’s case, however, reporters’ manners are impeccable. They understand that Biden struggles with questions he’s not expecting and could blurt out almost anything. Thus, he needs to be shielded. Reporters behave accordingly.
We can expect reporters to continue this practice throughout the campaign.
