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Concerns about President Joe Biden’s mental fitness persist in the White House. His speech during the J6 anniversary on Friday, marked by moments of confusion, failed to ease these concerns.
Biden’s handlers seem hesitant to expose the President to unscripted situations, such as interviews and debates, despite the official commencement of the election cycle.
On Monday, MSNBC revealed that First Lady Dr. Jill Biden would participate in an interview with correspondent Mika Brzezinski. The interview is scheduled to take place at the White House, with Dr. Biden discussing her “life, career, and the pivotal year ahead.”
While the White House portrays this as a hard-hitting interview, many observe that it occurs in a friendly setting, hosted by an administration-friendly correspondent and broadcast on an administration-friendly network.
Fox News reported: “The liberal ‘Morning Joe; co-host will likely not subjugate her to an intense grilling, following the pattern of friendly interviews her husband’s White House has green-lit in recent months.”
Jeffrey McCall, a political analyst and professor at DePauw University, has characterized the decision to make the First Lady the lead surrogate as a “miscalculation” by campaign leaders. This comes at a time when Joe Biden needs to convincingly demonstrate to the American people that he is mentally and physically prepared for a second term.
McCall conveyed to Fox News Digital, “Voters can surely infer she is only doing the interviews because the president can’t or won’t.”
Biden’s most recent substantial interview took place on October 15, following the Hamas attack on Israeli civilian sites. Many conservatives criticized the interview, contending that it was marked by soft and leading questions. Former President Donald Trump remarked at the time, “[The host] ‘led [Biden] along like a lost child.'”
“Each question contained the answer, and was so weakly and apologetically asked that it was a JOKE which should be considered a campaign contribution to the Democrat Party,” Trump added.
Detractors argue that the last instance President Biden encountered rigorous questioning during an interview was in February 2023, during an intense session with PBS Reporter Judy Woodruff.
On the other hand, proponents highlight that the President has participated in recent interviews, such as with Spanish radio host Tony Arias, CNN’s Anderson Cooper on his podcast about grief, and comedian Conan O’Brien.
Critics contend that these interviews failed to delve into significant issues, emphasizing that when Biden engages with the press, he responds to questions from a prepared list of reporters pre-selected by his staff.
William A. Jacobson, a professor at Cornell Law School, told Fox News Digital. “Joe Biden appears ready to run the same campaign in 2024 that he ran in 2020 – the so-called ‘basement strategy’: Don’t interact at all in uncontrolled situations, limit yourself to subservient media, and make the election about Donald Trump.”
Jacobson added, “Biden staying in the ‘basement’ keeps the media focus on Trump. Whatever downside there may be to the basement strategy, it’s the best strategy Biden has.”
Responding to Biden’s weekend charges that “Trump and his supporters” were a “threat to democracy,” McCall said: “It seems to me the press should start getting louder about lack of access to the president. For all the talk about threats to democracy, having a president who is inaccessible to the press and the citizenry is also rather undemocratic.”
Donald Trump's campaign is about him.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) January 7, 2024
Our campaign is about America. pic.twitter.com/63siwGOhQ7
