Even liberal media fed up with Biden administration over lack of access to border crisis, absence of pressers
‘There’s a responsibility issue here that he has just been completely ducking,’ a veteran White House reporter said
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The left is starting to turn on President Biden over a lack of transparency regarding the crisis along the Mexican border, while other liberals are peeved he hasn’t conducted a formal press conference two months after taking office.
The Daily Beast quoted a "veteran White House correspondent" Sunday who anonymously trashed the Biden administration for not holding a formal press conference yet.
BIDEN GIVING MEDIA 'ZERO ACCESS' TO BORDER OPERATIONS
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"It’s a problem," the unnamed correspondent said. "Who are we kidding here? More than two months without a press conference? Come on!"
The correspondent said the lack of availability is "stretching the bounds of access and transparency" and accused Biden of "ducking" responsibilities.
"From a strategic standpoint, it makes perfect sense because why would he want to get asked about his predecessor all the time? Or Hunter Biden? There are always going to be uncomfortable questions, no matter who’s in office," the unnamed correspondent continued. "But there’s a responsibility issue here that he has just been completely ducking. It’s too cute by half. It seems they’re doing this because they think it just throws them off message."
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Left-leaning CNN published an article Monday with the headline, "Reporters call out Biden administration for lack of transparency at the US-Mexico border," detailing journalists upset about the lack of access to the cage-like structures holding migrant children.
CNN spotlighted members of the mainstream media who are sick of the lack of access to both Biden and the crisis along the border.
CNN JOINS OTHER NETWORKS CRITICIZING BIDEN FOR DENYING PRESS ACCESS TO BORDER OPERATIONS
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"I have photographed CBP under Bush, Obama and Trump but now — zero access is granted to media," Getty Images special correspondent John Moore tweeted, which was among the comments singled out by CNN. "I respectfully ask US Customs and Border Protection to stop blocking media access to their border operations."
The ongoing influx of migrants at the U.S. southern border is growing so dire that CNN’s Pamela Brown called out the Biden administration for denying them access on air, too.
Brown examined the migrant surge and overwhelmed Border Patrol facilities in a segment over the weekend, telling viewers that "as the situation at the US-Mexico border gets worse, the media is being kept from it."
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The Radio Television Digital News Association also blasted the Biden administration over the situation.
"The lack of information and collaboration from the Border Patrol and Department of Homeland Security has also created a vacuum of sorts that traditionally biased sources are filling with information that serves only their political interests. This dynamic is not conducive to efforts by journalists to communicate unbiased information to the public nor is it constructive to the heated dialogue of elected officials both locally and nationally," RTDNA executive director Dan Shelley wrote in a letter to the administration demanding greater Border Patrol access for journalists.
BIDEN TO HOLD FIRST PRESS CONFERENCE MARCH 25
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"At a time when the southern border of the United States is undergoing a historic surge of migrants, it is more important than ever that journalists be allowed the necessary access to report accurately and independently on the Border Patrol’s response to the increased arrival of migrants and the wellbeing of those housed in Border Patrol facilities," Shelley added.
President Biden is scheduled to hold his first formal news briefing on Thursday afternoon, which will end the longest period a new president has gone without one in the last 100 years. The lack of transparency has emerged as an issue for people on both sides of the aisle.
The far-left Washington Post editorial board declared, "It’s past time for Biden to hold a news conference" earlier this month.
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"Avoiding news conferences must not become a regular habit for Mr. Biden. He is the president, and Americans have every right to expect that he will regularly submit himself to substantial questioning," the Post’s editorial board wrote.
Post media critic Erik Wemple has noted that Biden often holds "short question-and-answer" sessions.
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"Those fragmentary interactions don’t equal a formal, solo news conference, something for which Biden is now overdue," Wemple wrote.
Fox News’ Dom Calicchio and Yael Halon contributed to this report.