Joe Biden’s aides are finding it increasingly difficult to get excited about the president’s performances at scripted, stage-managed public events, and are finding that national media are more and more hesitant to carry or even cover his live remarks, CNN has reported, citing interviews with over a dozen aides and Democratic officials said to be familiar with the matter.
“You are thinking: why are we doing this?” one exasperated anonymous source told the 24-hour cable news network.
The president’s inner circle is said to receive weekly reports on media coverage of Biden’s speeches and metrics on clips that staff post to Twitter and other social media, plus memos from pollsters indicating that undecided would-be voters aren’t interested by what Biden is saying, or worse, view him as reacting to a growing list of national problems instead of setting the agenda.
Part of the problem, according to one senior advisor, is that Biden and his inner circle still believe that space on the front page of a newspaper or primetime television coverage matters more than the internet and social media. “A speech is presidential, remarks are presidential. His view is if he can just explain to people what’s going on and why, that people will understand,” one person said to be familiar with the thinking said. CNN described it as a concept dating back to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s regular radio fireside chats with Americans to discuss issues pertaining to the Great Depression and World War II.
Amid sinking approval ratings, Biden’s aides have reportedly blamed each other, plus the media for seeking Trump-style drama, and a news cycle dominated by issues like Ukraine and Covid. Limits to Biden’s public outings, and an internal battle between younger and older aides about how to balance traditional and social media are another problem, sources said.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates assured that Biden has a “well-rounded strategy that combines putting unprecedented resources into digital engagement, speeches that provide many of his most powerful moments, and person-to-person interactions that showcase important qualities like his empathy.” The spokesman indicated that there are over 70 people in Biden’s staff working on digital content, and that the president sets aside time “weekly” for digital media.
Biden is said to have traveled more around the US in May than during any other month since taking office, but almost every stop, with the exception of his recent visits to the sites of mass shootings in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas, has followed a predictable script of touching down, touring a location, giving a prepared speech and leaving.
White House Chief of staff Ron Klain reportedly offered a compromise in January in the form of a monthly Biden town hall to get more genuine, unscripted moments out of the president, plus much-needed media exposure. However, that idea was reportedly “sucked into the maw” of finger-pointing and dysfunction, from mockery over town halls’ “outdated” nature to their time-consuming status.
For now, the president’s allies in Congress view Biden as coming across as wooden and disconnected from reality with his pre-planned remarks, particularly at virtual events, complete with digital backgrounds, or from a White House lectern. “World’s most interactive man and we’re going to have him conduct the presidency from the set of ‘Jeopardy’,” one person familiar with White House operations complained, remarking on the current setup.