President Biden is used to using comprehensive cheat sheets while addressing the media. Still, the White House team seems to have taken things further after he disclosed a pre-written question from a reporter on Wednesday.
A snapshot of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Vice President Joe Biden speaking at the White House Rose Garden caught the president with a small cheat sheet, indicating that he was prepared for a question from Los Angeles Times reporter Courtney Subramanian. The tiny newspaper also featured a photo of the reporter and an explanation of pronouncing her last name. The president should call on her after his comments, as indicated by the scrawled “Question #1” at the top of the document.
How are you balancing alliance-based foreign strategy with domestic priorities like reshoring semiconductor manufacturing? Biden held up the question for reading.
The reporter, whose name was omitted by the president although he had called on her first, posed the following question to Biden: “Your top economic priority has been to build up U.S. domestic manufacturing in competition with China, but your rules against expanding chip manufacturing in China are hurting South Korean companies that rely heavily on Beijing. Are you undermining a crucial partner in the conflict with China to further your internal politics before the election?
The names of administration officials were listed in the order that they spoke on a different piece of paper in Biden’s hand. The dates on both cheat sheets were April 26, 2023.
In the past, detractors have mocked Biden for using elaborate cheat sheets, claiming that doing so shows that the White House has lost faith in the 80-year-old commander-in-chief due to worries about his mental stamina.
Following concerns regarding his support for regime change in Russia following his remark that “this man cannot remain in power” about Russian President Vladimir Putin in March 2022, Biden exhibited a list of prepared responses during a White House news briefing.
In June, reporters saw a cheat sheet with explicit instructions for the president during a White House meeting with cabinet officials.
The first bullet stated, “YOU enter the Roosevelt Room and greet participants.” I said, “YOU take YOUR seat.”
The next bullet item was “Press enters,” and it was followed by “YOU give brief comments,” with the notation “2 minutes.” In the end, Biden’s speech lasted around eight minutes. The last two bullets said, “YOU thank participants” and “YOU depart.”
One month later, Biden unintentionally showed the camera a note from an assistant informing the president that he had “something” on his chin.
Biden has also adopted calling on a predefined list of journalists early in his tenure rather than doing so impulsively during interactions with the press.
