Biden’s team on the defensive with press after special report
NEW YORK — Occupants of the White House have grumbled over news coverage practically since the place was built. Now it’s Joe Biden’s turn: With a reelection campaign underway, there are signs that those behind the president are starting to more aggressively and publicly challenge how he is portrayed.
Within the past two weeks, an administration aide sent an unusual letter to the White House Correspondents’ Association complaining about coverage of a special counsel’s report on Biden’s handling of classified documents. In addition, the president’s campaign objected to its perception that negative stories about Biden’s age got more attention than remarks by Donald Trump about the NATO alliance.
It’s not quite “enemy of the people” territory. But it is noticeable.
“It is a strategy,” said Frank Sesno, a professor at George Washington University and former CNN Washington bureau chief. “It does several things at once. It makes the press a foil, which is a popular pattern for politicians of all stripes.”
It can also distract voters from bad news. And while some newsrooms quickly dismiss the criticism, he said, others may pause and think twice about what they write.
The letter from Ian Sams, spokesperson for the White House counsel’s office, suggested reporters improperly framed stories about the Feb. 8 release of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report. Sams pointed to stories by CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, The Associated Press and others emphasizing Hur had found evidence that Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified material. Sam wrote that much of that so-called evidence didn’t hold up and was negated by Hur’s decision not to press charges.
He said it was critical to address it when “significant errors” like misstating the findings and conclusions of a federal investigation of a president occur.
It was Sams’ second foray into press criticism in a few months; last fall he urged journalists to give more scrutiny to House Republicans and the reasons behind their impeachment inquiry of Biden.
“Everybody makes mistakes, and nobody’s perfect,” Sams told the AP. “But a healthy back and forth over what’s the full story helps make both the press and the government sharper in how the country and world get the news they need to hear.”
Kelly O’Donnell, president of the correspondents’ association and an NBC News correspondent, suggested Sams’ concerns were misdirected and should be addressed to individual news organizations.
“It is inappropriate for the White House to utilize internal pool distribution channels, primarily for logistics and the rapid sharing of need-toknow information, to disseminate generalized critiques of news coverage,” O’Donnell said.