President Biden ignored a reporter’s pleas to speak to the press as she screamed questions at him while he boarded Air Force One to depart from Rio de Janeiro.
On Tuesday, Biden finished up his trip to Brazil, where he attended the G-20 summit and met with world leaders, including Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
Video shows that as Biden prepared to board Air Force One, an unidentified reporter tried to grab his attention. She can be heard yelling at the top of her lungs to break through the noise created by Biden’s Boeing 747 plane. It is not clear if Biden chose not to answer her or if he could not hear her questions over the roar from the plane’s engines.
‘Mr. President, happy early birthday! For your birthday, will you talk to us, sir?’ the reporter said, her voice growing louder with each attempt to ask questions.
‘As a gift to the press will you please talk to us? Mr. President! President Biden, please! We haven’t heard from you all trip!’
Her voice sounded almost hoarse with the final cry of, ‘MR. PRESIDENT!’
Biden turns 82 on Wednesday and will finish office as the oldest person to serve as president in American history – until President-elect Trump, 78, assumes office in January and serves for four more years.
Many news outlets have called out Biden for his habit of ignoring reporters’ questions and lack of direct interviews with the media.
‘For anyone who understands the role of the free press in a democracy, it should be troubling that President Biden has so actively and effectively avoided questions from independent journalists during his term,’ The New York Times said in a public statement in April. ‘The president occupies the most important office in our nation, and the press plays a vital role in providing insights into his thinking and worldview, allowing the public to assess his record and hold him to account.’
The statement went on to say that while Biden may be within his rights to avoid the New York Times in particular, he needs to speak with major news outlets on principle.
‘However, in meetings with Vice President Harris and other administration officials, the publisher of The Times focused instead on a higher principle: That systematically avoiding interviews and questions from major news organizations doesn’t just undermine an important norm, it also establishes a dangerous precedent that future presidents can use to avoid scrutiny and accountability.’
Fox News Digital’s Alexander Hall contributed to this report.
