Netizens have reacted angrily to the White House clearing press from President Joe Biden's news conference on COVID in a fresh example of the president's uneasy relationship with reporters.
"Talking with the press is a duty that presidents must honor. His handlers make these decisions? What other decisions do they make?", one user wrote on their Twitter page, while another argued that "if Trump's administration did that, everyone would be up in arms".
One more netizen sarcastically tweeted: "It's good to clear the press first - then the president won't be stuck for an answer". Others cheekily referred to Biden's government as "most transparent administration ever".
The incident took place on Monday, when Biden was wrapping up his communication with US governors about dealing with the country's efforts to tackle a surge in confirmed cases of the new coronavirus variant Omicron.
"I want to thank the governors for their partnership and I mean that sincerely", Biden said, adding: "With that I will turn it back over to Jeff and I understand you guys might have some questions. Jeff?", a reference to White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeffrey Zients.
The presidential aide responded by saying: "Good. I think we are going to clear the press first".
POTUS has repeatedly been slammed for avoiding interaction with journalists, incidents that included one in late November, when he delivered remarks on the state of the US economy.
Biden wrapped up the speech in approximately 10 minutes by saying: "Thank you for your time and effort, and I'll have plenty of time to talk to you later". He then started to walk away, with reporters shouting: "When will you answer our questions, sir?"
In October, the US president turned his back on reporters and walked away as they shouted questions following his remarks on a bleak September jobs report. Earlier, he rejected a reporter's question about Afghanistan during his comments on Hurricane Ida.