Biden takes questions after Washington Post called him out for evading press conferences

President Joe Biden answered questions from the press Tuesday evening after his meeting with Congressional leaders about the debt ceiling.

He spent a bit more time than usual on the press pool on the heels of the left-leaning Washington Post that called his lack of press conferences “unacceptable.”

In an opinion piece published Mondaythe Post editors accused him of “holding back the media” and pointed out that Biden had conducted zero solo press conferences throughout the year.

“President Biden didn’t drop the mic; he seems to have lost it. Mr. Biden is turning into a news media evader, and it’s damaging his presidency and the nation,” the poll said.

Biden did participate in two bilateral press conferences — last month at the White House with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and during his trip to Ottawa with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

President Joe Biden smiles as he answers questions from the press pool Tuesday night. The extended Q&A comes after The Washington Post editors called it “unacceptable” that the president held so few press conferences

The president also participated in a trilateral press conference with Trudeau and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador during his January visit to Mexico City.

During his other two recent trips abroad – to Ireland and Northern Ireland, as well as when he visited Ukraine and Poland – he skipped holding press conferences.

Press conferences are formalized settings where the president answers questions from the press.

Presidents will also participate in gaggles, more spontaneous question-and-answer sessions. They are often held when the president leaves the White House for a trip, or after the president makes a statement.

But followed the US presidency project that Biden does that less than his predecessor, former President Donald Trump.

The Post pointed out that only Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan held fewer press conferences on average than Biden, who came into office to cheer for press freedom and transparency — unlike Trump, who often called reporters the “enemy of the people.”

“Taking questions from the media promotes public accountability. It also shows that the president is willing to defend his views and inspires confidence that he can handle the job,” the poll said.

“It is common knowledge that Mr. Biden is prone to blunders and that press conferences are not his forte. But as he runs for a second term, he should be keen to show he can handle all aspects of the job,” the op-ed continued. “Pick up the microphone, Mr. President. The media is not your enemy.’

The lack of press conferences is also why a blunder by Biden on Friday received so much attention.

Biden had teased journalists that he would hold a “big press conference,” explaining that he would not be doing a Q&A with them at a meeting of his “Investing in America Cabinet.”

“I’m giving a big press conference this afternoon, so I love you all, but I would ask you to leave so we can get to work,” the president said at the time.

The only problem was that no press conference was scheduled — and no one in the White House press knew one was scheduled.

In reality, Biden was referring to a sit-down interview scheduled later in the day with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle.

While the White House ignored requests for clarification from DailyMail.com and at least two conservative outlets, two “well-known sources” told The New York Times that Biden was “referring to his MSNBC interview tonight,” reporter Katie Rogers tweeted.