Journalists dressed down President Joe Biden after he snapped at a reporter who asked him a question about the war in Gaza, according to a report by Fox News:
“The president signed a 10-year agreement with Ukraine to continue providing military equipment for its ongoing war with Russia Thursday. At the news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Biden announced they would take two questions from American reporters and two from Ukraine.
“When Bloomberg’s Josh Wingrove got to ask his question, he shifted the topic to U.S. efforts in the Israel-Gaza war, which chaffed Biden.
“‘I wish you guys would play by the rules a little bit. I’m here to talk about a critical situation in Ukraine. You’re asking another subject. I’ll be happy to answer in detail later, but the bottom line is that we made an agreement [in regard to Gaza],’ Biden responded.
“Before Wingrove, Biden called on a reporter from The Associated Press, who not only asked about expanding the parameters on U.S. weapons into Russia, but also about Biden’s son Hunter.
“The WHCA subsequently put out a statement defending the independence of the free press to ask questions.
“‘The White House Correspondents’ Association believes it is in the public interest to make clear that at a presidential press conference, at home or abroad, there are no preconditions regarding question topics,’ the statement read. ‘While the White House does determine the number of reporters the president will recognize, it is up to professional journalists to decide what to ask.’
“It continued, ‘Any leader may prefer that reporters ask only one question or ask only about a topic that is of most interest to the president or another world leader, but a free press functions independently. WHCA would welcome more opportunities to pose a range of questions to the president in a press conference setting.'”
To read the entire article by Fox News, please click HERE.
