When Joe Biden dropped by Hanoi, Vietnam, for a press conference on Sunday he really ticked off the mainstream network media. The whole stunt was worse than useless as KJP had to yank the microphone out of his hand, while Joe babbled totally off script about lying dog-faced pony soldiers. They managed to get him safely shuffled off to bed before he started a diplomatic incident. Even before he got there, Politico was grumbling about how they were forced to fork out seriously heavy bread for a private jet to cover it. Once they saw what there was to cover, they’re really steamed.
Totally staged press conference
Politico knows now why the White House Press Corps was giving them and all the other “mainstream” media outlets the cold shoulder and treating them rudely ahead of Joe’s jaunt to India for the G-20 Summit. They weren’t really supposed to be there in Vietnam on September 10, because the event was entirely staged and scripted.
The five reporters and their questions were vetted ahead of time and Joe had his answers at least mostly memorized. He wasn’t even sure whether it was day or night and babbled incoherently until Karine Jean-Pierre snatched the microphone from his hand so he could be dragged away, still babbling.
Politico reported ahead of the trip that when Joe “told donors at an August 8 fundraiser that he would ‘be going to Vietnam shortly,‘ it was news to almost everyone.” He wasn’t supposed to mention that. “Even the president’s aides were surprised. Although West Wing officials had been discussing a potential visit, nothing had been finalized.”
Joe Biden at Hanoi, Vietnam: "I'm just following my orders here and I don't know about you, but I am going to go to bed". pic.twitter.com/YSlkcdxFCD
— Real Mac Report (@RealMacReport) September 10, 2023
The comment “ignited a logistical nightmare” for the network press. “Immediately, reporters began peppering the White House for details. But aides couldn’t offer much guidance with logistics still being figured out.”
A whole gaggle of high paid reporters “who had been assigned to cover the G-20 were left with uncertain travel plans and a host of questions.” They scrambled for Visas to Vietnam. It soon became clear the only way they could make it from the summit in New Deli to the press conference in Hanoi was by a charter flight. That usually works out to around $60,000 a seat.
“Many media outlets were leery about spending thousands of dollars to get to Vietnam, especially after Biden abruptly cut short an overseas trip in May that left newsrooms on the hook for the cost of a charter flight from Japan to Australia that they never actually took.”
Lying dog-faced pony soldiers
Once the network media managed to arrive in Hanoi, at the great expense of their publishers, they were treated to a literal dog and pony show, courtesy of Joe’s dementia compounded by a serious case of jet-lag.
As soon as he got on stage, Joe admitted that he was only “allowed” to take questions from five reporters. “Oh really,” the press journalists who moved mountains to be there and ask a question snarled.
“These five-day trips around the world are no problem,” Joe quipped. Then he went off on “a rambling explanation of why he uses the phrase ‘lying dog-faced pony soldier‘ in an attempt to explain his feelings about politicians who deny the existence of climate change.”
Pres. Biden visits John McCain memorial in Hanoi Vietnam pic.twitter.com/f2fqyRPPzs
— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) September 11, 2023
He managed to take the five questions and as agitated members of the press who weren’t on the approved list frantically shouted out their particular questions, Joe remained at the podium “responding to one additional question, though his full answer was inaudible.” It was about “what he said to Chinese Premier Li Qiang.”
That’s when Jean-Pierre grabbed the microphone away from him to announce: “Thank you everybody – this ends the press conference.” It didn’t end it for Joe, who kept muttering for a while and ended with “I tell you what, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to bed.” We paid 60k a head for this? Reporters growled.
Even before the trip, Politico was reporting that the planning snub “left some reporters feeling frustrated with the White House and sparked fresh questions about the value of spending thousands of dollars in an age when the president’s press conferences are streamed live.” Especially when what he has to say makes him look like a senile idiot. That becomes a really scary thought when you consider he’s carrying around the nuclear football.
