Everyone knows the instinct: When you see a train wreck or other calamity about to happen, there is a natural reaction to turn away from the carnage about to transpire.
Welcome to the world of the White House every time President Joe Biden opens his mouth in public, according to a new report from Politico.
Some in the White House reportedly cannot bear to hear a carefully crafted message blunted by the messenger, and either mute or turn off Biden’s remarks, unable to bear the suspense of what will go wrong this time.
Chief on the list of things that make White House aides tremble is that the president might say an unscripted word in response to a question, undoing all the work that went into his prepared remarks.
“I know people who habitually don’t watch it live for that reason,” a current official told Politico.
Aside form the media praetorian guard doing their best to hide stories like this from the public, the sheer volume of gaffes that would've been devastating to other POTUSes has inured the public to them w/ Biden to the point that we barely notice them. https://t.co/uSRjNuleFv
— The Holy Goat (@trueholygoat) September 8, 2021
In his latest gaffe, Biden says ‘they don’t call ‘em tornados anymore’ during a climate-change speech.
Biden’s slip-up is yet another one of his regular gaffes and slip-ups, and was seen as another example of his deteriorating cognitive capacity.https://t.co/Pg96DKy8Xf
— Dr Gerhard (@DoctorGerhard) September 8, 2021
As noted by Fox News, Biden has made it clear he comes out to speak publicly after being told what to do and say.
“Ladies and gentlemen, they gave me a list here. The first person I was instructed to call on was Kelly O’Donnell from NBC,” Biden said at a news conference last month.
According to Fox News, Biden has “implied that his handlers set the rules” and his conduct is “leading observers to ponder who is actually calling the shots behind the scenes.”
“I’m not supposed to take any questions, but go ahead,” @POTUS told me at FEMA HQ. I asked if there's still an acute risk at the Kabul airport. “I’m not going to answer on Afghanistan,” he said. pic.twitter.com/fZ8WL9gfWI
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) August 29, 2021
Biden again covered himself with criticism when he gave an update on Hurricane Ida as the storm was nearing landfall.
“I’m not — I’m not supposed to take any questions but go ahead,” Biden told Bloomberg News reporter Jennifer Jacobs.
“Mr. President, on Afghanistan-” Jacobs began.
“I’m not going to answer on Afghanistan now,” Biden interrupted before turning around.
The president eventually made headlines for walking away from the media.