LIMA — President Biden arrived in the Peruvian capital Thursday night with his daughter Ashley and granddaughter Natalie in tow for the first of two major international conferences. Meanwhile, reporters protested the increasingly irrelevant lame-duck leader’s failure to respond to reporters as scheduled during his week-long trip.
The 81-year-old Biden arrived on his first official trip to South America after reporters yelled at White House press secretary Karine Jean, and later criticized Chinese President Xi Jinping and others at the APEC and G20 summits. He is scheduled to meet with other world leaders but did not speak to reporters. Pierre from Air Force One.
“Biden wants to engage with leaders. He has not chosen to engage with the press. There will be no press conferences on either leg of this trip. He has several days left. So what was the problem?” one journalist gushed during an aerial press conference.
“He will continue to engage with the press,” Jean-Pierre replied before delivering the well-worn retort. “What I’m saying is, stay tuned. He’s going to continue to do that, but I don’t have anything better than that.”
Then another journalist leaned toward Biden. Biden has become increasingly low-profile as President-elect Donald Trump dominates the news cycle with unusual Cabinet picks after a campaign in which he claimed Republicans would dismantle democracy and govern as fascists.
The second journalist, who has given up his own re-election bid and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris amid a revolt over the Democratic Party’s moral strength, is in a position to speak persuasively to the public. I asked him if he was staying away from the spotlight because he wasn’t in Japan. .
“The post-election press conferences in most administrations have been kind of routine. It says something about where his head is, that he’s not in a place to engage us. ” asked the telegraph reporter.
“Normally, the president often interacts with the press,” the reporter said.
“He will continue to engage with the press,” Jean-Pierre reiterated. “He clearly respects and understands the importance of your work, especially as it relates to communicating and communicating directly with the American people.”
A third journalist asked sternly: “Can you promise that he will talk to us[during the trip]?” Karine, this is a long and expensive journey for our outlet! ”
The outgoing press secretary laughed and replied, “I understand that.”
“What I’m saying is he’s going to continue to engage with the press. There’s nothing more to say than he’s going to continue to engage with you,” Jean-Pierre continued.
“He respects and understands the important role of all of you, and we will continue to do that. There isn’t.”
Despite professing a penchant for press relations, Biden’s four-year term included no interviews with reporters from major daily newspapers, and a new and mysterious advance notice for reporters allowed within earshot of the president. Biden’s media staff sparked a press corps revolt over the vetting process.
President Biden also formally enacted rules for the first time to strip reporters of their press badges and significantly reduced the number of press conferences compared to his recent predecessor.
Biden’s South American tour will begin with a four-day trip to Peru, where he will participate in talks with leaders of the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Organization, and conclude with a meeting with President Xi Jinping on Saturday, where Biden will is expected to tout a decline in fentanyl this year. This is despite the fact that nearly 300,000 Americans have died since Biden took office, mostly due to drugs of Chinese origin.
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The president, who leaves office on January 20, then visited the Amazon rainforest in Manaus, Brazil, before arriving in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday for the annual G20 summit of leaders of the world’s most economically successful countries. I plan to attend.
Due to the influence of the presidential transition, Biden’s visit will have a smaller number of reporters than some other presidential trips, with less than 60 journalists, including television support staff, registering APEC status through the White House. It was.
