President Joe Biden appeared before global media cameras in Italy on Thursday at the start of the G7 conference, again in the spotlight during a period in which the White House has avoided questions about the guilty verdict of Hunter Biden.
The G7 summit on Italy’s Adriatic coast begins at an awkward moment for the president, just hours after a jury convicted his son in federal court in Wilmington on gun charges.
However, the White House has managed to keep journalists at bay through a series of tactics. The first was in a written statement issued on Biden’s behalf minutes after the verdict was delivered.
The White House canceled a press conference with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre scheduled for Tuesday just as the news broke, which could have turned into a 40-minute grilling on the topic.
Then, in a previously unannounced trip, the president flew to his hometown of Wilmington, hugging his son on the tarmac and providing an emotional visual of support.
He also spoke with Hunter’s wife, Melissa Cohen, and son Beau Biden, but a group of reporters traveling with him were too far away to shout questions, according to the group.
President Joe Biden was once again in the spotlight in Italy for the G7, where he was welcomed by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. His only response to his son Hunter’s guilty verdict has been a written statement.
That left Wednesday’s flight aboard Air Force One as the first opportunity for a smaller group of reporters to finally get information about how the president and administration were dealing with the historic verdict.
Jean-Pierre tried to preempt those questions by reading Biden’s written statement, where he said he and first lady Jill Biden ‘love our son’ and we are very proud of the man he is today, mentioning addiction and saying that ‘we have always they will do it’. “I’ll be there for Hunter and the rest of our family.”
When more questions came, Jean-Pierre was isolated by her own lack of information. “I haven’t spoken to the president about this since the verdict came out,” she told reporters.
(That didn’t stop him from making headlines when he refused to rule out the president commuting Hunter’s sentence, even though he had waived clemency. “I haven’t talked to the president about this,” he said.) Biden arrived in Italy for the evening.
The White House hosted a Zoom briefing with national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Thursday morning, but it focused on foreign policy issues and was limited to the more limited group of reporters who were with Biden.) The general press corps could log on to listen, but could not ask questions.
Journalists caught a small pool ‘spray’ with the G7 leaders, but Meloni was talking the entire time
Biden arrived in Italy on Wednesday night
Biden briefly greeted his son Hunter in Delaware after the verdict, but reporters were too far away to question him.
Hunter BIden was spotted going to lunch at a Thai restaurant in Los Angeles on Wednesday
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that she had not spoken to Biden about the verdict, preventing her from commenting on his reaction.
At the luxurious Borgo Egnazia resort where G7 leaders were meeting, Biden was protected by developments. He warmly greeted Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and then joined the group of leaders for a brief “spray” at the start of their first meeting.
At that event, Meloni was the only person who spoke, and the press was there only briefly, denying the opportunity to pose a question to Biden.
There was a second Biden briefing scheduled for reporters Thursday afternoon for a quick “spray,” providing another limited opportunity for questions.
But that event ended up being closed to the press.
The White House has scheduled a press conference Thursday afternoon local time with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
That event will give members of the press a chance to finally question Biden directly.
But the news conference will be limited by an expected format that will allow only two questions from the United States. That forces members of the media to choose between asking about the stalled ceasefire proposal for Gaza, Ukraine or the surprising legal developments.
In his last such news conference, Biden chastised a reporter who attempted to ask a two-part question.
The format, along with the embattled Zelensky struggling to counter the Russian invasion of his homeland, allows Biden to maneuver away from unwanted questions by signaling new agreements to support Ukraine for a decade and providing new interest-based funding. of seized Russian assets. .
