Reporters of the White House press group lodged a formal complaint after President Joe Biden refused to answer questions from the press during a joint presser with Prime Minister Boris Johnson. UK political editors were allowed the opportunity to ask Boris Johnson questions about the US free trade deal but staffers quickly began yelling over the PM mid-sentence before desperately ushering journalists out of the room. White House press secretary Jen Psaki has been issued a formal complaint from White House reporters after Mr Biden has been avoiding journalists over the past month.
Boris Johnson joined Joe Biden in the White House where reporters were invited to take photos of the meet.
However, US journalists were denied the opportunity to ask questions to either man after handlers delivered strict rules and restrictions on the meet.
The Sun’s political editor Harry Cole attempted to ask Mr Biden a question about the UK/US free-trade deal but was told to direct the question towards Mr Johnson instead.
Handlers could then be heard yelling “thank you, let’s go” before escorting journalists out of the room.
White House Correspondents’ Association President Steve Portnoy was at the meet on Tuesday and sent a formal complaint to Ms Psaki to address the issue.
The president is expected to hold press conferences and other meetings with journalists throughout their time in office but Mr Biden has been avoiding the media for several weeks now.
US journalists have only been given the chance to ask Mr Biden questions as he travels between events.
During his visit to the United Nations, Mr Biden bluntly answered a question from a US reporter about the southern border crisis in America and said he was trying to get it “under control.”
Mr Biden also met with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres ahead of his speech to the UN on Tuesday and discussed how the US and UN could work together to tackle COVID-19 and climate change.
But again, handlers shooed reporters out of the room, telling them “let’s go” and shouting over their questions by saying “thank you” repeatedly.
Reporters demanded answers to the southern border crisis in the US which is seeing tens of thousands of migrants, mainly from Haiti, set up camps at the Texan border.
It comes as Mr Biden has reportedly been told off by handlers behind the scenes for going “off-script” during speeches and answering questions with the president also avoiding reporters over this past week.
Politico also reports some handlers refuse to watch Mr Biden’s public appearances live as they get annoyed at his ad-libbing.
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The UN video is not the only occurrence of Mr Biden being censored or protected from the public.
During his labor day speech, Mr Biden turned to the audience and said: “Now, I’m supposed to stop and walk out of the room here.
“I’m going to stop, and with your permission, I’m going to walk into the room because I want to say hello to all of you.”
The crowd cheered but viewers at home questioned why Mr Biden felt the need to show he was going against instructions.
Mr Biden also delivered a speech at the UN general assembly where he backed America’s drive to protect allies.
He told the UN: “US military power must be our tool of last resort, not our first.
“It should not be used as an answer to every problem we see around the world.”