One of the things that people need to realize is that the remote nature that a lot of communications during the pandemic is allowing for a lot of pre-production on one end or another.
I have had video calls with family where I moved my phone or computer to another part of the house so they didn’t see me walking through the part of the house I hadn’t cleaned in a while.
Added to that, you can take just about anything that happens and excuse it as a technical issue. I cannot tell you how many times I have broken off calls simply by telling people my internet went out or something was wrong with my phone and needed to update it.
If that’s possible with me on my phone, you know darn well it’s possible with a video conference with old Joe Biden.
The White House raised eyebrows on Wednesday when it suddenly cut the feed of a virtual event after President Biden said he was “happy to take questions” from Democratic lawmakers.
Accompanied by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. and the House Democratic Caucus, Biden addressed lawmakers on the topics of COVID relief and the ongoing vaccine rollout. He closed his remarks by calling on Democrats to help “restore faith” in government. He then appeared ready to take questions.
“I’d be happy to take questions if that’s what I’m supposed to do, Nance,” Biden told the speaker. “Whatever you want me to do.”
The feed ended seconds later, after a brief pause from the president. Biden is facing growing criticism for not holding a formal press conference in the six weeks since taking office.
BIDEN: “I’m happy to take questions if that’s what I’m supposed to do…”
*White House feed cut* pic.twitter.com/y5BHhgXWOB
— The First (@TheFirstonTV) March 3, 2021
Now a senior-level law enforcement source in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claims they received verbal orders from within the agency limiting their ability to speak freely about the growing crisis along the border.
The official with knowledge of the restrictions spoke under the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak on the matter. “The situation with media relations now is night and day compared to the last administration, The official said. “We have been advised not to speak on immigration issues at the border and to rely on DHS’s Office of Public Affairs and the Whitehouse Press Office to handle messaging.”