President Joe Biden’s annoyance with the press manifested itself in sarcastic comments he made to reporters as they were ushered out of a NATO meeting between him and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The 46th president grinned as he told aides it was time for the press to leave the room, Wednesday, and after several reporters persisted in shouting questions at both leaders, Biden snapped back with a sarcastic quip on the quality of their queries.
The tense exchange between Biden and reporters happened during a meeting between both leaders and members of their cabinets at the recent NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
BIDEN KEEPS INSULTING REPORTERS – AND DAMAGING HIMSELF IN THE PROCCESS
During their discussion, both Zelenskyy and Biden discussed Ukraine’s admittance into NATO, with President Biden assuring Zelenskyy that his country will eventually be admitted into the alliance of western powers.
Towards the end of the meeting, Biden claimed, “I hope we finally have put to bed the notion about whether or not Ukraine is welcome in NATO. It’s going to happen.”
Biden then started in on reporters, first by strongly hinting that his staffers get reporters out of the room.
He said, “Any rate, I thank you, and we got a lot to talk about. So, somebody is going to have to say, ‘The press has to leave.’” The subtle order was met with laughter by the gaggle present in the room.
As aides ordered press to leave with loud “thank yous” and as President Biden smiled on, several reporters peppered Zelenskyy with questions.
One asked, “President Zelenskyy, are you satisfied with what you got from NATO? You were so frustrated yesterday. Is this enough? Are you satisfied, sir?”
Willing to answer, Zelenskyy claimed, “I think, at the end of summit, we — we have great unity from our leaders and security guarantees that the success for this summit. I think so, but it’s my opinion. Thank you.”
Another reporter pushed through the constant orders for media to leave the room, asking, “President Zelenskyy, how soon after the war would you like to be in NATO? How soon after the war would you like to join NATO?”
At this point Biden hijacked the exchange, giving a snarky reply to the reporter’s question.
“An hour and 20 minutes,” Biden quipped, before slamming the reporter with some additional sarcasm.
With a grin, Biden added, “You guys ask really insightful questions!” Zelenskyy seemed amused at the insult, chuckling in response as the press finally left the room.
The exchange represents the latest put down of the press by Biden, who has a history of belittling reporters during his time as president and while campaigning for office.
Prominent examples of him trashing reporters include the time he told CNN reporter Kaitlin Collins she was in the “wrong business” after she asked him a question about Putin, and the incident where he called Fox News reporter Peter Doocy a “stupid son of a b—-” when Doocy asked him about inflation.