Joe Biden: US President surprise visit with reporters, Joe Biden shares concerns about election violence
The president Biden sought to boast about strong economic news, but ended up fielding questions about the crisis in the Middle East, the presidential contest and even the pope.
President Joe Biden takes questions at a White House press briefing on Friday.
President Joe Biden said he was concerned that the upcoming presidential election might not be peaceful, using a surprise appearance at the White House Briefing Room on Friday to suggest that former president Donald Trump’s rhetoric may lead to a “dangerous” outcome.
Cut through the 2024 election noise. Biden said “I’m confident it’ll be free and fair. I don’t know whether it’ll be peaceful,”. “The things that Trump has said and the things that he said last time out, when he didn’t like the outcome of the election, were very dangerous.”
Biden’s comments, which also referenced the refusal by Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), to acknowledge the former president’s 2020 election loss, came during his first-ever visit to a space where reporters typically question White House officials. The president sought to use the opportunity to boast about strong economic news but ended up fielding questions about the crisis in the Middle East, the presidential contest and even the pope.
Biden, who has held fewer news conferences than his predecessors, seemed eager to engage with reporters after a strong jobs report Friday and a deal to end a dockworkers strike. He also seemed eager to point out that his detractors — some of whom had helped force him out of the presidential race in July — had been proved wrong by the spate of good news coming into view during his final months in office.
“Outside experts were wrong,” he said. “Inflation has come down. Wages have gone up faster than prices. Interest rates are down. A record 19 million new business applications have been filed for. The stock market continues to reach new heights.”
The appearance came as Biden — as well as Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — have come under scrutiny for avoiding regular interactions with the media and unscripted moments. Surprise visits to the briefing room reflect a tradition that spans several presidencies, and one that Biden had skipped throughout his tenure before Friday.
Most of the questions the president fielded after his opening remarks were about the crisis in the Middle East, where the White House has been struggling to avert a regional war.
Biden said Friday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should “remember” that his administration has helped Israel more than any other, in response to a question about whether Israel’s actions were part of an effort to influence the U.S. election.
“No administration has helped Israel more than I have. None. None,” Biden said. “And I think maybe Bibi should remember that. And whether he’s trying to influence the election, I don’t know, but I’m not counting on that.”
Biden added that Israel had a right to respond to Iran’s recent attack but also suggested that if he were in Netanyahu’s position, targeting Iranian oil facilities would not be his top priority.
“I think if I were in their shoes, I’d be thinking about other alternatives than striking oil fields,” Biden said, reiterating that Israel had not yet decided on how to respond.
Biden also said he was considering oil sanctions against Iran, but added that he did not want to discuss those deliberations publicly. The remarks came after Biden suggested Thursday “we’re discussing that” when asked whether he would support an attack on Iranian oil facilities by Israel, though he cut himself off before completing his thought. Oil prices jumped after Biden’s comment.
