United States President Joe Biden on Thursday (Mar 14) again left netizens and media speechless after he non-hesitantly asked permission from one of his staffers to “take a couple of questions” from the audience.
Biden was caught taking the bizarre permission during a campaign stop in Michigan, after which his other aides quickly shifted media reporters out of earshot.
“Can I take a couple questions?” asked 81-year-old Biden to a female staffer while meeting campaign volunteers and his supporters on the front porch of the home of a Saginaw city council member.
“Yeah, we’re going to take a few questions,” replied the staffer. The response of the staffer apparently gave a signal to three other aides who then started herding up the media reporters already present on the sidewalk nearly 20 feet away.
“Thank you, press … back in the vehicles,” the aides said as they escorted media personnel away before any of their questions were taken by Biden.
Biden taking ‘permission’ not a first-time incident
This is the second time in a week that Biden has been seen asking for permission before taking any questions.
Biden after ending his speech at the New Hampshire Democratic headquarters in Manchester on Monday (Mar 11), quizzed, “Am I allowed to take any questions?”
“Anybody here a sta–” he went on and was most likely to say “staff” before he trailed off, as the crowd broke into laughter.
After this, a staff member quickly said, “Thank you, press,” before the camera feed of the event was snapped.
Many times, Biden has spoken to crowds about landing “in trouble” for answering unauthorised questions.
In a viral incident, Biden was stopped from giving answers regarding Afghanistan at the White House Easter Egg Roll in April 2022 after one of his staff members interrupted the press meeting and took him away.
Social media reacts to Biden’s escape from public
The insistence of Biden’s campaign to not take any questions from people in front of some media reporters troubled social media users.
Watch: Biden, Trump win party presidential nominations
“This is bad. Really bad. They’ve told his staff not to let him open his mouth,” wrote conservative columnist Buzz Patterson on X, while reacting to the video footage of the Saginaw event.
“Trump would’ve walked out and spoken spontaneously for an hour,” he said.
Meanwhile, Fox News contributor Joe Conchan said, “So if [you’re] wondering why poll numbers are dropping post [State of the Union], here’s Exhibit Z since then…”
“The ‘leader’ of the free world has to ask permission to speak to the press,” wrote another X user.
(With inputs from agencies)