Biden leaves podium but tells reporters he ‘can’t resist questions’ in live blunder after Psaki warned him not to answer
PRESIDENT Joe Biden appeared to suffer yet another gaffe as he attempted to leave the podium on Wednesday before turning back to tell reporters he “can’t resist” their questions.
The strange exchange came at the close of a press briefing from the White House this afternoon – less than a week after press secretary Jen Psaki admitted she tells Biden not to answer impromptu questions.
After fielding questions from reporters, the president turned to leave the stage.
However, Biden stopped mid-stride when a reporter called out, “should Americans be worried about inflation?”
Biden then turned on his heels and said with a smile: “You guys are bad, I’m not supposed to be answering all these questions but I can’t resist your questions.”
It comes less than a week after White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki admitted to reporters that she advises the president “not to take questions” from reporters on the fly.
“In fact, a lot of times we say ‘Don’t take questions,’ you know, but he’s going to do what he wants to do because he’s the president,” Psaki said in an interview with David Axelrod.
“We’re never going to satisfy the White House press corps and their desires for access. And I think there have been mistakes made in the past of trying to do that.”
During the same interview, Psaki recalled the moment she thought she would be fired after Biden once took questions from pool reporters three times in a day.
She said: “The first time I traveled with him, he took questions from the pool three times that day, and I thought, ‘Am I going to get fired when I get back.
“So, he does do that and he likes doing that. I mean, the thing is, he likes the press corps and likes that back-and-forth engagement.”
Elsewhere in his Wednesday press conference, Biden touted his administration’s latest vaccine progress and announced that Lyft and Uber would be providing free rides to vaccine sites for all Americans.
He also answered questions about the Colonial Pipeline hack that caused fuel supplies to drop in dozens of states and fuel prices to rise nationawide.
“I think you’ll hear some good news in the next 24 hours,” Biden said. “We’re getting that under control.”
Most read in US News
More to follow…
For the latest news on this story keep checking back at Sun Online.
The Sun is your go to destination for the best celebrity news, football news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video.
Download our fantastic, new and improved free App for the best ever Sun Online experience. For iPhone click here, for Android click here.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheSunUS and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSunUS.