Joe Biden's Press Conference Performance Is Causing Quite A Stir

Despite what he said while running for president, President Joe Biden suspects he'll run again. He dropped the bombshell during his first solo press conference since assuming the presidency. "My plan is to run for re-election, that is my expectation," Biden said. Presumably, he'll do so with Kamala Harris by his side (via Boston Herald). Other than that, Biden's March 2021 press conference was nothing extraordinary, as far as presidential press appearances usually go (at least pre-Trump). The president promised to hold "China accountable to follow the rules" in terms of trade and human rights issues; he vowed he was "do[ing] everything in my power" to keep legislation seeking to restrict voting rights in Georgia "from becoming the law;" and he committed to continue reforming the country's immigration system (via CNN). 

Perhaps more remarkable than what was said during the conference was that which was not. As journalist Eric Boehlert pointed out via tweet, Biden didn't field "a single Covid question." We agree with Boehlert, that's "kind of stunning." More remarkable still was Twitter's reaction to Biden's first press conference as president. Excuse the language, but the social media platform is freaking out. 

As journalist Yair Rosenberg observed via tweet, "This Biden press conference is slow and boring. In other words, another campaign promise kept." Comedian and actor John Fugelsang pointed out on his Twitter feed that Biden "hasn't berated a single journalist, played victim or mentioned unspecified 3rd parties who can't stop praising him." It may be true that Biden's press conference was nothing like a Trump-era event. But Twitter's reaction to presidential press appearances clearly hasn't changed.

Half of Twitter is celebrating, as usual. Biden supporters are posting tweets to the tune of, "Since Joe Biden was inaugurated, malarkey is down 97%." The other half? Not so much. Republican politicians, like congressional candidate Buzz Patterson, used the opportunity to tweet for Biden to "step down immediately." Trump's former press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who hopes to become Arkansas' next governor, critiqued Biden on social media for "project[ing] weakness, not strength," and asserting that "our adversaries like China neither respect nor fear him." Another anti-Biden tweeter suggested that the president's performance was "like a student being able to take a cheat sheet into their classroom for final exams."

At least The Daily Show's Trevor Noah was able to make light of the situation. Minutes after Biden finished speaking, the comedian tweeted, "SCANDAL ALERT: Joe Biden has not held a press conference in over TWO MINUTES."