Biden set to SHUN national media and do even fewer major interviews during campaign: Aides plan to book gaffe-prone president with local news outlets and ‘influencers’ in swing states instead
President Joe Biden will eschew national media and even fewer major interviews during the 2024 campaign, instead booking sit-downs with local news media and “influencers.”
The Hill reported this on Thursday about the strategy, with aides noting that it was also deployed in 2020, helping him win the White House over now-former President Donald Trump.
A longtime assistant told the newspaper that by focusing on local outlets, “you get more bang for your buck.”
And the gaffe-prone president likes to talk about local issues rather than the daily news and poll questions he gets from the national press, the report said.
“It’s always helpful when the president can talk to a community specifically about his achievements without all the noise,” the aide said. ‘It is more effective… than sitting with a network, where many voters are already going to vote for you.’
President Joe Biden plans to eschew national media and instead book sit-downs with local news media and “influencers.” The Biden campaign released a photo Thursday of the president recording the SmartLess podcast during his trip to New York City
Comedians Jason Bateman (left), Will Arnett (third from left) and Sean Hayes (second from right) recorded an interview from their SmartLess podcast on Thursday with President Joe Biden (third from right), former President Barack Obama (second from left ) and Bill Clinton (right)
President Joe Biden (left) arrives in New York City on Thursday with former President Barack Obama (right) in tow. The two will be joined by former President Bill Clinton for a podcast interview with three Hollywood comedians – in lieu of a traditional broadcast or print Q&A
During his first three years as president, Biden lagged far behind Trump in giving interviews.
As of Jan. 20 this year, he spoke to reporters 86 times, compared to Trump’s 300, according to data compiled by Martha Kumar, a political science professor emeritus at Towson University who studies White House communications.
More recently, Biden recorded an interview with MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart during a trip to Atlanta, Georgia earlier this month, which was part of a two-day inaugural campaign as he officially became the presumptive Democratic nominee.
That came after passing on the traditional presidential Super Bowl interview, which would have been with CBS, the network that airs the game.
After his conversation with Capehart, Biden spoke with two influential Latino journalists — Nueva Network’s Alex Lucas and Univision Radio’s Raul Molinar — ahead of a three-state trip in mid-March to Nevada, Arizona and Texas to shore up his support among Latino voters .
He also invited a number of TikTok influencers to the White House ahead of his State of the Union address on March 8.
And on Thursday, Biden, former President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton recorded an episode of the SmartLess podcast, hosted by comedians Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett – ahead of their star-studded $25 million fundraiser at Radio City Music in New York. Hall.
President Joe Biden (right) spoke with MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart (left) in Atlanta as he kicked off his general election campaign. The Hill reported Thursday that Biden will avoid most national media and talk to local media and influencers during the 2024 campaign
President Joe Biden leaves the White House on March 7 to deliver his State of the Union address. Before the speech, the White House invited some Tik Tok influencers and they watched the president depart from the Truman Balcony
Biden also appeared on an episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers last month during a trip to New York.
At the same time, Biden has never addressed the White House presser from the briefing room podium.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump appeared before the White House press corps almost every weekday.
And Biden press conferences are few and far between.
According to Kumar’s data, he has held 33 press conferences as of January 20 compared to Trump’s 49, while Obama was already 65 at this point in his term.
The White House has often said that Biden will not hold a press conference with a foreign leader because that country refused.
Biden, however, does engage in helicopter talk — speaking to reporters as he leaves the White House for Marine One or under the wing of Air Force One.
He did that 535 times during his first three years as president. At that point, Trump was at 572, Kumar said.
Trump’s team told The Hill that the ex-president and presumptive 2024 Republican nominee is much friendlier to the press — despite often calling journalists the “enemy of the people” at his rallies.
“President Trump is more accessible to the press and the American people than Broken Biden, whose staff will not allow him to conduct interviews or answer questions because they are terrified of his failed presidency, disastrous policies and declining cognitive skills,” spokesperson Danielle Alvarez said .
Trump tends to watch an assortment of programs, from Howard Kurtz’s Fox News Channel media show to podcast interviews with former aides.
But some Republicans feared he would have to make a more concerted effort to get his message across to state voters.
“There has been very little evidence of that,” one Republican strategist told The Hill. “And while I think Trump can get his message across to voters better than Biden, they need to do a better job of achieving their local goals.”
“It could make a difference,” the source said.