Russian Foreign Ministry Says Biden's Press Conference Was 'Staged'

"It seems to me that it is obvious that the press conference was staged. Personally, it shocked me, I will not hide it. I did not expect that such staged information events may be held in the United States at this level", Zakharova said at a briefing.

The spokeswoman added that it is "strange" to see this kind of behaviour from Washington as it always talks about freedom of speech. She also said that US reporters have faced "discrimination".

"Recently, the Russian mass media have been discriminated against. Today we see how not only foreign mass media are subjected to this discrimination, but also American journalists themselves: some kind of selection of questions, selection of journalist … It was clear that the floor was given to only one group of journalists", Zakharova said.

The spokeswoman added that it is "scary" to see what methods are used in regard to media by the current representatives of US authorities.

On Thursday, Biden held his first official press conference as US president, which lasted slightly over an hour. During the event, Biden made several gaffes, telling reporters, among other things, that he'd been a senator for 120 years.

At the same time, some media outlets suggested that the president was using cheat sheets, with photos published on social media leading some people to believe the whole conference was scripted.