OPINION:
The White House announced this week that President Biden will be making his first prime-time address to the nation on Thursday evening. The president will update the American people about the COVID-19 pandemic on the one-year anniversary of our country’s lockdowns.
Instead of holding a press conference to answer questions about important issues facing the American people or addressing the nation before a joint session of Congress — as is customary — Mr. Biden has scheduled a carefully orchestrated speech in which he will read from a teleprompter for 10 or 15 minutes and then slink back into hiding somewhere in the White House residence. This stunt is meant to distract citizens from the fact that Mr. Biden hasn’t come forward yet to answer any unscripted questions about anything — including the escalating crisis his irresponsible executive orders have caused at our southern border.
During his remarks on Thursday, Mr. Biden will no doubt take credit for the recent approval of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and falling death counts even though it’s widely acknowledged that it was President Trump’s tremendously successful Operation Warp Speed that paved the way for the first vaccine to be approved in just a short eight months. Despite his hollow pleas for unity, Mr. Biden continues to perpetuate the false narrative about “the mess we inherited.” If Mr. Biden were truly interested in uniting the country, he would give Mr. Trump credit where credit is due, but he never will.
Here are the facts. Since taking office 48 days ago, more than 125,000 Americans have died of the coronavirus on Mr. Biden’s watch. Sadly, it appears that his administration is focused on everything but destroying this dreadful disease once and for all. Look no further than Mr. Biden’s so-called COVID-19 relief bill that wastes hundreds of billions of dollars on items from the liberal wish list that have nothing to do with fighting the coronavirus. When Mr. Biden signs this ultra-partisan $1.9 trillion political payoff into law, it will mark the official return of the swamp.
Mr. Biden’s primetime ploy won’t work. The American people want to see their president answer questions in an off the cuff manner and level with them about the state of the union from the well of the U.S. House of Representatives. No president in modern history has waited this long to hold a solo press conference and both President Trump and President Obama had already addressed Congress by now.
We knew this day would come, so the question must be asked: Is the 78-year-old Biden mentally or physically capable of pulling off a wide-ranging impromptu hour-long press conference? Can Mr. Biden stay on his feet long enough under the klieg lights to deliver a stem-winding State of the Union speech? At the moment, signs are pointing to no.
This should be of great concern to the American people and the mainstream media. So far, Joe Biden is the least accessible president of the United States in decades and the polar opposite of the “ask me anything you want” attitude of his predecessor.
Americans deserve answers from their commander in chief, period. The Biden administration is talking about fundamentally transforming our society and the media is failing to ask any difficult questions. We demand to know why the U.S. taxpayer should foot the bill for another $1.9 trillion in spending when it appears as though the economy is recovering and we’re getting back to normal without it. Furthermore, if there truly are $1 trillion in unspent COVID funds leftover — as reported — why not spend that money first?
We deserve answers about Mr. Biden’s border crisis and why the president is allowing COVID-19 positive illegal immigrants into the country during a pandemic and whether he’s vaccinating them ahead tens of millions of American citizens. Mr. Biden also needs to come clean about why he’s following the teachers unions instead of the science when it comes to re-opening our schools. Our children are hurting and this lack of leadership is inexcusable.
These are not normal times and these are not minor issues. The president needs to be present at this moment and level with us. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki promised a Biden press conference before the end of the month, but that’s a long way off.
There are significant issues that need to be addressed and the leader of the Free World must make his voice heard. When will Mr. Biden discuss his airstrikes in Syria? What does the president have to say about rising gas prices and his job-killing energy policies? Does the president think a conflict-free special counsel should be appointed to investigate Hunter Biden? What about Twitter’s censorship of President Trump — does President Biden think that assault on free speech should continue?
Waiting until the end of March to hold a press conference would be a mistake. The mainstream media must wake up and put some pressure on the president to open up and let the sunlight in.
As the issues pile up, the press conferences won’t get any easier. Will the president work with Sen. Joe Manchin to protect the Senate filibuster? Should the United States boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in China over their human rights abuses? Should Rep. Eric Swalwell be removed from the Intelligence Committee? The list goes on and on.
After four years of President Trump openly answering every question the hostile media threw at him, the American people deserve more from the current occupant of the Oval Office.
• David N. Bossie is president of Citizens United and he served as deputy campaign manager for Donald J. Trump for President.
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