Jonathan Turley on Biden lashing out at Doocy: Shows why he prefers The Weather Channel
Fox News contributor on the president's continued denial of talking business with Hunter Biden's business partners.
Since he took office in January 2021, critics have observed how little media access the White House has given to President Biden, who has granted fewer interviews and held fewer solo press conferences than any of his recent predecessors.
Whenever Biden agrees to do a rare interview, that in itself is newsworthy. He raised eyebrows this week, however, when it was announced that the president would be sitting down with The Weather Channel.
The interview, which was conducted on Tuesday by Weather Channel meteorologist Stephanie Abrams and aired on Wednesday, focused entirely on Biden's climate change and "environmental justice" policies. The questions asked touched on climate issues disproportionately affecting minorities and how it hurt military preparedness and changed migration patterns.
White House communications director Ben LaBolt defended The Weather Channel hit, saying that Biden was "meeting viewers where they are — including those who don’t tune into political news on a regular basis."
President Biden sat down with The Weather Channel's Stephanie Abrams to talk climate change. (Screenshot/The Weather Channel)
The Weather Channel's exclusive, which it dubbed "The Climate Interview," is the latest in a string of softball sit-downs Biden has granted that have avoided the growing controversies involving his son Hunter and corruption allegations facing his family.
"The White House press office knows they can indefinitely get away with this only releasing Biden to sympathetic partisans or niche outlets on a very specific issue," NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck told Fox News Digital.
It has been nearly two months since the DOJ announced it struck a plea deal with Hunter Biden involving three charges related to tax and gun crimes (the deal ultimately fell apart in court upon scrutiny), but it came after Biden made multiple assertions to the press that his son had done "nothing wrong."
HUNTER BIDEN SCANDAL: CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC SUNDAY SHOWS COMPLETELY AVOID DEVON ARCHER TESTIMONY
The following week, Biden appeared for a live interview with MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace, who avoided the subject entirely and kept much of the focus on the Supreme Court. By this time, an IRS whistleblower had already come forward alleging misconduct in the DOJ's handling of the Hunter Biden probe, including how U.S. Attorney David Weiss was blocked from bringing more serious charges against Hunter, a claim that was in-part independently verified by The New York Times.
Instead, Wallace asked why the Biden administration delayed its investigation into former President Donald Trump over his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, and why he hadn't been prosecuted for them thus far (Trump was indicted last week on Jan. 6-adjacent charges by Special Counsel Jack Smith).
MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace was giddy during her exclusive sit-down with President Biden. (Screenshots/MSNBC)
A bizarre episode erupted in the White House over the Fourth of July weekend where a bag of cocaine was found by the Secret Service in the West Wing.
Days later, Biden granted an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, who also avoided any mention of Hunter and the growing corruption scandal, as well as the cocaine controversy, keeping the focus on foreign policy. Perhaps Zakaria's toughest question was about voter concerns over Biden's age, but not before the host showered him with praise, saying Americans are "impressed" and think he's a "great president."
The IRS whistleblowers who were the lead agents assigned to the Hunter Biden probe offered their testimony to Congress on July 19 about the obstruction they faced as they were discouraged to look into any potential money ties between Hunter and his father. On July 26, Hunter's plea deal with the DOJ crumbled in court over confusion whether he was immune from further prosecution despite ongoing investigations. As the president laid low from the press, the White House shifted its messaging, insisting Biden was never "in business" with his son after he repeatedly said he never even spoke with Hunter about business.
Meanwhile, the news cycle was dominated by a scathing takedown of Biden from New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd over the president's refusal to acknowledge his seventh grandchild fathered by Hunter following years of Hunter denying paternity and fighting child support in court.
It wasn't until July 28 when Biden offered an "exclusive" written statement to People Magazine finally acknowledging 4-year-old Navy Joan Roberts, which came on a Friday evening ahead of his weeklong vacation and 20 days after Dowd's column sparked a media firestorm.
And in an interview released July 31 with British wellness podcast host Jay Shatty, Biden acknowledged his seven grandchildren for the first time on camera but without being asked why he waited so long to do so. The interview, which focused on Biden discussing "How to Navigate the Path of Grief with Resilience and Hope & Ways to Make Challenging Decisions Under Pressure," did not touch the other scandals, either.
Political headaches have only mounted since. Devon Archer, Hunter Biden's former longtime business partner, testified to lawmakers that the younger Biden put his father on speakerphone during business meetings at least 20 times and spoke how crucial the family "brand" was while serving on the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma.
Hunter Biden's former business associate Devon Archer, right, testified to lawmakers that Hunter called his father on speakerphone at least 20 times during business meetings. (Getty Images)
House Republicans continue releasing bank records showing suspicious money trails totaling in the millions between various foreign entities and several members of the Biden family including Hunter and how the then-vice president had dinner with multiple of Hunter's associates.
On Monday, the Gold Star families who lost loved ones in the Kabul airport bombing during the chaotic military withdrawal from Afghanistan testified to Congress how Biden lied to them about the passing of his son Beau, who he claimed came home in a "flag-draped coffin" when in reality he died of cancer in the U.S. Biden was also dogged with negative headlines in recent weeks after it was revealed his German Shepherd, Commander Biden, had bitten seven Secret Service agents (the previous White House pet Major Biden, another German Shepherd, also bit staffers).
That all led to this week's interview with The Weather Channel, which addressed none of it.
In the four interviews President Biden granted since June 20, he faced zero questions about Hunter and the corruption allegations. It wasn't until Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy confronted him on Wednesday when he was asked about the phone calls Archer alleged he participated with Hunter's business associates, which he denied and called a "lousy question."
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As Biden has been able to dodge questions about Hunter in interviews setting, he hasn't exactly been grilled even when he is asked about his son. In October 2022, when it was first reported that the DOJ was pursuing tax and gun crime charges against Hunter, CNN's Jake Tapper asked only one question, which was "Personally and politically, how do you react to that?" before moving on. And in May, MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle, like Tapper, asked only one question, sympathetically saying to the president, "There's something personal that’s affecting you. Your son, while there's no ties to you, could be charged by your Department of Justice. How would that impact your presidency?"
That question, more than three months ago, was the last time the president was asked about Hunter in an interview setting.
Fox News contributor Joe Concha predicted Biden will continue to evade being pressed on the family scandals until the editorial boards by the likes of The New York Times and The Washington Post demand it.
"Basically, he needs to be called out from the left," Concha said.
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