Joe Biden has again slipped up and flashed his infamous note cards at a press conference – but one detail this time has sparked particular backlash.
The US President was holding a press conference at the White House on Wednesday with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol when the 80-year-old raised his notes in view of the cameras.
A photo of the small cheat sheet showed the name and picture of Los Angeles Times reporter Courtney Subramanian – along with the pronunciation breakdown of her last name – and a general summary of the question she would ask.
“Question #1” was handwritten at the top of the sheet, indicating the President should call on her first at the conclusion of his remarks.
“How are YOU squaring YOUR domestic priorities – like reshoring semiconductors manufacturing – with alliance-based foreign policy?” read the question in Mr Biden’s hand.
Subramanian asked Mr Biden, “Your top economic priority has been to build up US domestic manufacturing in competition with China, but your rules against expanding chip manufacturing in China is hurting South Korean companies that rely heavily on Beijing.
“Are you damaging a key ally in the competition with China to help your domestic politics ahead of the election?”
Mr Biden has previously been seen referring to similar cheat sheets at press conferences showing names and pictures of reporters and the order he should call on them to ask questions.
But the latest gaffe has generated greater-than-usual controversy as it appeared to show questions had been pre-submitted by the outlet.
The Los Angeles Times on Thursday denied submitting questions to the White House ahead of the press conference.
“Our reporter did not submit any questions in advance of the Q&A with President Biden,” Los Angeles Times vice president of communications Hillary Manning said in a statement to Fox News.
“Courtney Subramanian covers the White House for the Los Angeles Times.
“As such, she is in regular contact with the White House press office seeking information for her reporting.
“You would have to ask the White House who prepared the document for the President and why they included that question.”
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Thursday it was “entirely normal” for the President to be holding a cheat sheet with advance knowledge of a journalist’s question at a joint press conference – even as she denied that was what happened.
“It is entirely normal for a President to be briefed on reporters who will be asking questions at a press conference and issues that we expect they might ask about,” Ms Jean-Pierre told members of the White House press corps at her regular briefing.
“It is not surprising that yesterday we would anticipate questions that he did receive – right? – on the visit with the South Korean President. We do not have specific questions in advance, that’s not something that we do.”
The NY Post reports that Ms Jean-Pierre’s comments came despite the fact that her own briefings have been heavily pre-scripted for months, with an aide generally canvassing reporters for their questions ahead of time and the press secretary then declining to call on those who baulk.
Ms Jean-Pierre claimed Subramanian’s question ended up being “different” from the one on the card – and also disclosed that the White House taps “a number of reporters” in advance for any given press event.
“We try to be really mindful about who has not gotten a question in a while,” she said. “We picked the LA Times, which has not gotten a question in some time.”
She noted that Los Angeles has a large Korean-American population.
Some former White House press secretaries said it was outrageous that a reporter would pre-submit a question.
President George W. Bush’s first press secretary Ari Fleischer, who held the job from 2001 to 2003, tweeted, “The LA Times needs to investigate this. No WH reporter would ever tell me what question they intended to ask POTUS. It would be unethical – not to mention soft – to do so. The Times and this reporter have explaining to do.”
Speaking on CNN on Thursday, the network’s White House correspondent Arlette Saenz and host Kaitlan Collins discussed the controversy.
“It’s not uncommon for the White House to prepare these types of briefing materials for the President, but it’s the level of specificity that is in the spotlight in this moment,” Saenz told Collins.
“It’s worth noting that her question was not identical to what was on that note card. And her outlet said that they did not submit any questions to the White House ahead of this press conference.”
Saenz also claimed Republicans have “seized” on the incident “as they tried to highlight President Biden’s age”.
During a panel discussion, CNN’s John Avalon said Mr Biden’s response to a question about his age during the press conference was not very “artful”.
“And it doesn’t help matters when, you know, you see him getting cheat sheets for questions and interviews and things like that,” he said. “He’s been a consequential president. This is a legitimate area of concern.”
In June, reporters captured a cheat sheet at a White House meeting with cabinet members detailing specific instructions for the President.
“YOU enter the Roosevelt Room and say hello to participants,” the note card said. “YOU take YOUR seat.”
Similarly detailed instructions were seen on Mr Biden’s notes during the G20 summit in Bali in November.
The press conference came a day after Mr Biden formally announced he will seek re-election in 2024, setting up a potential rematch with Donald Trump.