Media goes easy on Biden in his first month
February 22, 2021
It should come as nor surprise that the media would take it easy on Joe Biden during his presidency, but if the first month is any indication of how friendly the coverage will be, Americans are in for a long four years.
Take this recent article by CNN which decribes Biden as having a preference for a fire in the Oval Office and “sometimes adds a log himself to keep it going.” giving the impression that he is just like the rest of us and isn’t letting the presidency get to his head.
President Biden has expressed a preference for a fire built in the Oval Office fireplace, and sometimes adds a log himself to keep it going.
Unlike his recent predecessors, he's more of an early-to-bed type. Here's how Biden is settling into his new job. https://t.co/FdCGtxPXkM
— CNN (@CNN) February 15, 2021
Newsweek published an article on Biden that mentioned how he beat his granddaughter at Mario Kart while taking a break at Camp David. All this while Americans are waiting for the $2,000 stimulus check he promised, which was conveniently not mentioned.
Joe Biden, playing as Luigi, wins in Mario Kart race against granddaughter at Camp David https://t.co/qUUGJINyh4
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) February 15, 2021
Then there is the case of former deputy White House press secretary TJ Ducklo, who resigned after less than a month on the job after he told a reporter from Politico, “I will destroy you” if she continued to pursue a story on his relationship with Axios reporter Alexi McCammond, who covered the Biden campaign.
Biden, in an attempt to set a new tone in the White House, told the staff that “If you are ever working with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I will fire you on the spot … on the spot. No ifs, ands or buts,” on January 20.
Press Secretary Jen Psaki tweeted out that Ducklo had apologized but remained employed by the White House.
TJ Ducklo has apologized to the reporter, with whom he had a heated conversation about his personal life. He is the first to acknowledge this is not the standard of behavior set out by the President.
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) February 12, 2021
Ducklo was the suspended for one week, which turned into a resignation after pressure built — but not from the media — for his termination.
Psaki then tried to defend the White House’s lack of action. After NBC’s Peter Alexander asked her about the Ducklo situation, she said, “I think the president leads by example, and I try to do the same.
“On Saturday, when we announced that TJ Ducklo had resigned his position — something we all agreed was the right path forward — I made clear that every day, we’re going to meet the standard set out by the president in treating others with dignity and respect.”
Then, there was the CNN town hall moderated by Anderson Coooper, where Biden said “we didn’t have the vaccine when we came into office,” despite the fact that vaccinations started on December 14.
Cooper didn’t question Biden, allowing the lie to live on.
https://twitter.com/TVNewsHQ/status/1361916032387084290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1361916032387084290%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fopinion%2Fwhite-house%2F539537-we-knew-media-would-coddle-biden-heres-why-its-much-worse
The media was quick to jump on President Donald Trump even before he was sworn in and kept up their attacks for the next four years. It’s completely the opposite when it comes to covering Biden and the media seems to have no problem abandoning objectivity to protect the president from himself.