Fox News anchor Bret Baier and “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace argued Sunday that President Joe Biden’s town hall flubs went beyond simple “gaffes.”
Wallace pointed out several instances from Thursday’s CNN town hall with Anderson Cooper when Biden had made claims or given answers that the White House later had to clean up or walk back entirely. (RELATED: Psaki Rolls Back Biden’s Promise To Taiwan, Won’t Say Whether US Would Defend Militarily)
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“He said a bunch of things that weren’t true and the White House had to clarify. We are talking about, for instance, whether he’s actively considering the National Guard to help free up the supply chain. He said he’s actively considering and he’s the president. The next day Jen Psaki said, ‘No, he’s not actively considering it.’ That’s more than just a misstatement or gaffe,” Wallace said.
“That’s right,” Baier agreed. “You don’t have to talk about the motives of how that happened, it’s just significant, it’s a major cleanup on aisle four. When you are dealing with something like mobilizing the National Guard to deal with the supply chain crisis let alone a signal to Taiwan — that China reacts to real time — that the White House has to walk back then.”
Baier went on to note that Biden’s propensity to go off script and create situations that required his team to come behind him and clean up or clarify his comments could be part of the reason he was not willing to do as many interviews.
“I do think it’s significant, I do think that the president does not go out for a lot of interviews. I know you’ve asked, I’ve asked, he doesn’t do a lot of them, Chris,” Baier concluded.
“No, he doesn’t,” Wallace agreed, turning to Associated Press Executive Editor Julie Pace and asking whether she thought Biden’s missteps were the reason his team steered him away from taking questions from the press.
“The White House would like the president to stay on script,” Pace replied, adding, “We certainly would like more interactions like the one we saw last week.”
“And then more clarifications,” Wallace quipped.
