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What bully pulpit? Why Biden stays off television during big breaking news

What bully pulpit? Why Biden stays off television during big breaking news

The polls keep getting worse for President Biden. His approval rating in a new NBC poll has hit a low of 37%, with Donald Trump leading him by 5 points in a hypothetical matchup. Worse, Trump beats him by 20 points on handling the economy. Just as the press is churning out pieces about rising consumer confidence and the record-breaking stock market – Trump manages to claim credit for that too – it shows the public still has plenty of financial anxiety.  You can’t use statistics to tell people how they should feel. It doesn’t work that way. MEDIA MELTDOWN: WHY JOURNALISM IS BATTERED AND BLEEDING The report last Friday showing a gain of 353,000 jobs in January was an absolute blowout. Economists across the spectrum agreed on that. Larry Kudlow, Trump’s chief economic adviser and now a Fox Business host, said if he was Biden he’d brag about it too, including rising wages. Here’s what the president did not do: He didn’t step before the cameras, take credit for the unexpected surge in employment and tout his economic program as a success. Nope, he put out a statement. Biden has a thing about statements, but television and the web thrive on video. A statement is read by anchors and hosts for perhaps half a day and then disappears. So why would Biden pass up a video victory lap? Which brings me to the point of this column. Everyone knows that as president, Trump spoke to reporters far more often and did many times more sitdown interviews than his successor. I’ve complained about the lack of press access many times, and clearly it’s not going to change. Even as a former president, Trump makes far more news than his likely opponent. Biden’s team has concluded that he needs to be protected from the press because he, well, might bumble or stumble or make a mistake – to which I would say, so what? Everyone already knows that about the 81-year-old president. BIDEN BLASTED FOR PROMOTING OFFICIAL WHO OVERSAW DISASTROUS EVACUATION IN AFGHANISTAN Consider: After five days of largely conservative criticism for inaction after that Iranian drone killed three American soldiers, the Biden administration late Friday unleashed airstrikes against 85 targets in Iraq and Syria, killing more than 40 people – and there are said to be more attacks to come. You might think this was a golden opportunity to play the commander-in-chief card, with a short and perfectly legitimate televised speech on why he ordered the attacks and how anyone who seeks to harm Americans will face the same kind of retaliation. Uh uh. He put out a statement. Still hasn’t given that speech. I don’t get it either. We also learned in recent days that, for the second straight year, Biden has refused the offer of a Super Bowl interview. Talk about a major-league fumble. Massive audience. Usually a lighter tone, with perhaps a couple of hard questions, maybe some Taylor Swift chatter. Barack Obama even took Super Bowl questions from Bill O’Reilly.  Why wouldn’t an underdog seize such a prime opportunity? Last year, when FOX had the big game, maybe you could say Biden didn’t want to deal with the network, but this time it’s CBS. He can’t handle Norah O’Donnell or Scott Pelley? And one more. Biden, running against token opposition, surprised no one by winning 96% of the vote in Saturday’s South Carolina primary. That, of course, is the state that rescued his candidacy four years ago. But Biden wasn’t even in South Carolina. He went to California for fundraising and then to Nevada, which holds the next contest. If the president had just stayed the night, he could have given a rousing victory speech, and the networks would have run clips for the next couple of days. So what if he was running against Marianne Williamson and an obscure congressman? E. JEAN CARROLL GOES ON VICTORY LAP AFTER $83.3 MILLION WIN OVER TRUMP No speech. Now some might argue that Biden should get himself on the tube to make a pitch for the Senate’s bipartisan budget bill that both Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson are trying to kill. Ronald Reagan excelled at garnering support this way. But this is entirely an inside game; appealing to the public wouldn’t matter. Plus, the measure is almost certainly going down.  In a normal environment, yesterday’s endorsement of the compromise measure by the Border Patrol union would have a huge impact. Not in this hyper-partisan atmosphere. When Biden met with culinary union workers in Las Vegas yesterday, he spoke briefly to pool reporters. What about the border bill? “We don’t have enough folks. We don’t have enough judges. You don’t have enough folks here. We need help. Why won’t they give me the help?” How would that happen? His answer was inaudible. A reporter asked about King Charles’s cancer diagnosis. “I’m concerned about him. Just heard about his diagnosis,” and hopes to speak with him “God willing.” That is how POTUS communicates with the press these days, with short, clipped answers. At least the helicopter engines weren’t drowning him out.

9/11 firefighter who stood next to Bush in famous images dies

9/11 firefighter who stood next to Bush in famous images dies

Bob Beckwith was working in the smouldering ruins of the World Trade Center when George W Bush visited the site. A retired New York City firefighter who rose to fame after being photographed next to then-President George W Bush in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks has died at the age of 91. Bob Beckwith was working in the smouldering ruins of the World Trade Center three days after the attacks when Bush visited the site and gave a speech promising to hold the perpetrators responsible. “I can hear you, the rest of the world hears you, and the people who knocked down these buildings will hear all of us soon,” Bush said in remarks to rescuers scouring for survivors. Pictures of Bush speaking into a megaphone with his arm around Beckwith became some of the most well-known images symbolising the grief and resolve of Americans in the days after hijackers crashed planes into the Twin Towers. “Bob Beckwith was one of many retired FDNY [Fire Department of New York] members who responded to the World Trade Center site in the days and months following September 11 to aid in rescue and recovery as a testament to their devotion to their FDNY family,” Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said in a statement on Monday. “His iconic picture with President Bush captured a moment that was both inspiring and heartbreaking. We are grateful to his service to our city and our nation, and we join his family and friends in mourning his loss.” Bush on Monday paid tribute to Beckwith, saying he had been privileged to have stayed in touch with the “decent, humble man” over the years. “When the terrorists attacked, Bob suited back up and, like so many brave first responders, raced toward the danger to save and search for others. His courage represented the defiant, resilient spirit of New Yorkers and Americans after 9/11,” Bush said in a statement posted on X. Born in 1932, Beckwith had a nearly 30-year career as a New York City firefighter. Despite retiring in 1994, he joined many other current and former first responders to help search for survivors in the hours and days after the attacks. Adblock test (Why?)

Syrian earthquake survivors still sleep outside one year on

Syrian earthquake survivors still sleep outside one year on

NewsFeed Families in Syrian towns devastated by last year’s earthquake are still choosing to sleep in tents outside, one year on. They fear that another quake could strike at any moment and that they could be crushed in their sleep. The Turkey-Syria earthquakes struck the region on February 6, 2023, killed more than 50,000 people. Published On 6 Feb 20246 Feb 2024 Adblock test (Why?)