President Joe Biden was quick to push back when Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping as his “old friend.”
Biden took a number of questions following his Wednesday summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Doocy took the opportunity to ask him about his plan to press the Chinese government on the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. (RELATED: Biden Keeps Getting Into Spicy Exchanges With This Fox News Reporter)
“You keep saying there’s no substitute for face-to-face dialogue, and also with what you said at NATO, the biggest problems right now are Russia and China. You have spoken many times about how you have spent perhaps more time with President Xi than any other world leader,” Doocy began, asking, “So is there going to be — come a time where you might call him, old friend to old friend, and ask him to open up China to the World Health Organization investigators who are trying to get to the bottom of COVID-19?”
“Let’s get something straight. We know each other well, we’re not old friends,” Biden said, gesturing with his sunglasses in on hand. “It’s just pure business.”
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Doocy went on to point out that the G-7 had called for further investigation, but the Chinese government had made it clear that further interference would not be welcome. “So what happens now?” he asked.
“China’s trying very hard to project itself as a very responsible and very, very forthcoming nation. They are finding it hard to talk about how they’re helping the world in terms of COVID-19, and vaccines, they’re trying very hard. Certain things you don’t have to explain to the people of the world, they see the results,” Biden, adding that the best thing he could do was to make sure that the United States and other nations were prepared in the event of another pandemic.