President Joe Biden shocked reporters Friday by coming to the White House briefing room for the first time of his presidency.
As the Friday briefing passed its scheduled hour, the door of the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room swung open and the 81-year-old president saw a folder in his hand.
There were audible gasps in the room as several journalists greeted him.
“My name is Joe Biden,” the president said. ‘Welcome to the pool.’
The briefing room was famously built the White House indoor pool commissioned by President Richard Nixon to house TV cameras.
The president answered questions, but it was his response as he left that attracted the most attention.
A reporter shouted on his way out, “Will you reconsider dropping out of the race?”
“I’m back in,” he joked, grinning and walking through the door.
President Joe Biden shocked reporters by appearing at the White House press conference on Friday – marking the first time he has addressed reporters in the room
“I’m back in,” President Joe Biden joked when a reporter asked as he left the briefing room whether he regretted withdrawing from the presidential race
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre (left) hugs President Joe Biden (right) during his surprise appearance at Friday’s briefing
The message he wanted to convey – at times stuttering – was to highlight new jobs figures showing unemployment falling to 4.1 percent and a pause in the dock workers’ strike.
Although many of the questions he was asked were about an impending war in the Middle East.
Biden suggested that an Israeli strike on Iranian oil fields would not be ideal in response to the rocket attack on Tel Aviv earlier this week.
“If I were in their shoes, I would think about an alternative to attacking oil fields,” the president said.
He was also asked whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed a ceasefire agreement to interfere in the US elections, as some Democrats claim.
“No government has helped Israel more than I have. None, none, none,” Biden responded. ‘And I think Bibi should remember that, whether he tries to influence the elections or not. I don’t know, but I don’t count on that.’
Biden dismissed the fact that he had not spoken to Netanyahu in person since the Iranian attack, explaining that “our teams are in contact 12 hours a day.”
OH JOE: The president stopped to answer a question about whether he regretted dropping out of the 2024 race last July. “I’m back in,” he joked
“What I know is that the plan I put in place had the support of the U.N. Security Council, the vast majority of our allies around the world, as a way to put an end to this,” the president said.
He asserted that Israel “has every right to respond to the brutal attacks on them.”
“But the fact is that they have to be much more careful in dealing with civilian casualties,” Biden said.
Biden — and now Vice President Kamala Harris — have seen a decline in support among Arab Americans for Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack.
The president also does not want to say how he advised Israel to respond to the Iranian missile attack.
“That’s between me and them,” he said.
He also threw a few zingers at his political opponents.
Asked about Republican Senator Marco Rubio’s assessment that the positive jobs numbers were “fake,” the president replied: “If you notice, anything the MAGA Republicans don’t like, they call fake.”
“Whatever,” he repeated. “The job numbers are what the job numbers are.”
Looking toward the election — which is just a month and a day away — Biden said he was “confident that it will be free and fair.”
“I don’t know if it will be peaceful,” he warned. “The things Trump said and the things he said last time, when he didn’t like the outcome of the election, were very dangerous.”
Biden also pointed out that former President Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, “has not said he accepts the outcome of the election.”
“They didn’t even accept the results of the last election,” Biden added.
He also responded, “I always get those briefings” when asked if he was getting homeland security briefings before Nov. 5.
“I gotta go, boy,” Biden said, as press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called a Washington Post reporter. “I said I’d answer a few questions,” he said, smiling, as reporters’ hands continued to wave.
Jean-Pierre assured the president that this would be the last.
He then answered a question about Harris’ role.
‘I am in constant contact with her. She is aware of it. We sing from the same hymn sheet. She helped pass all the laws that are now in place, she was a key player in everything we did,” Biden responded.
Afterwards, almost every reporter in the room tried to shout a question at the president.
The White House correspondent for the Eternal Word Television Network – a Catholic channel – managed to get the president’s attention, much to the chagrin of Jean-Pierre, who constantly berates him for interruptions.
The journalist said Pope Francis called for a day of prayer and fasting to mark the one-year anniversary on Monday of the Hamas terror attacks.
“I will pray and fast,” Biden responded.
Reuters’ Nandita Bose – whom Jean-Pierre had appealed to – then asked the president how long he thought it was acceptable for Israel to bomb Lebanon.
“What is acceptable to you?” she asked.
Biden just grinned and said “thanks” before shuffling out with his folder and teasing that he was back in the running on the way out.