President Joe Biden caught cheating, once again. The Democrat was holding a note card with crucial information like journalist’s names and faces during a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday, October 25, 2023. An image of him holding the note card went viral on the internet.
The 80-year-old took help from a sheet that mentioned the names of the four journalists, each from their respective country- PBS correspondent Laura Barrón-López, USA Today White House correspondent Joey Garrison, Australia’s Channel 10 Network Political Editor Ashleigh Raper and The Australian’s Jeff Chambers, per Fox News.
Although the joint press conference went smoothly, it was nearly 24 hours later, a photo circulated on the internet, which showed the Democrat reading through a piece of paper before addressing the reporters present. Biden is by now known to have a “cheat sheet” by his side during the press interactions.
Happening Now: President Biden holds a joint press conference with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia. https://t.co/abk6VdADQi
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 25, 2023
Previously, in a similar joint conference with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, the Democrat held a piece of paper containing a photo, name, and name pronunciation of Los Angeles Times journalist Courtney Subramanian under “Question #1” with a pre-written question.
Biden’s note read, “How are YOU squaring YOUR domestic priorities — like reshoring semiconductors manufacturing — with alliance-based foreign policy.” In fact, Subramaniam was asked to question first before any other journalist could approach the president. And the question seemed to have been approved in advance.
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Another incident highlighted Biden’s reliance on a note to remember crucial details during the conferences and recall the names of the press members. In June, POTUS exposed another cheat sheet with step-by-step details, which was found to be comical by many, but his Republican rivals questioned his mental acuity.
The note read, “YOU enter the Roosevelt Room and say hello to participants. Then directed the president, “YOU take YOUR seat,” reported the New York Post . The 80-year-old received a note from one of his aides in July 2021, captured by a photographer, which read, “Sir, there is something on your chin.”
The cheat sheet saga goes back to when he held his first formal press conference after being elected president in March 2021. He had a card with statistics and talking points to refer to during the media interaction. In another image, Biden consulted reporters who were selected in advance with their faces in his reference card.
Though Biden himself never addressed the curious case of his cheat sheets, the White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre clarified it is “normal.” Jean-Pierre told members of the White House, “It is entirely normal for a president to be briefed on reporters who will be asking questions at a press conference and issues that we expect they might ask about.”
She continued, “It is not surprising that yesterday we would anticipate questions that he did receive — right?” Jean Pierre asserted, “We do not have specific questions in advance; that’s not something that we do.”