Biden Leaves Press Meet Midway, Ignores Questions On Banking Crisis

The video of Mr Biden walking out, on the White House’s YouTube channel, has gone viral with over four million views. Comments have been turned off, which has triggered a backlash on Twitter.

US President Joe Biden is known to leave press meets midway but a video showing him ducking out of a briefing on the Silicon Valley Bank collapse on Monday, mid-question, has sparked criticism.

When President Biden ended his remarks on “maintaining a resilient banking system and protecting our historic economic recovery”, a reporter asked, “President, what do you know right now about why this happened? And can you assure Americans that there won’t be a ripple effect?”

Without a second glance, the President started walking away. “Will other banks fail, Mr President,” asked another reporter, but Mr Biden had left the room.

The video of Mr Biden walking out, on the White House’s YouTube channel, has gone viral with over four million views. Comments have been turned off, which has triggered a backlash on Twitter.

This is not the first time that the US President has left a room full of reporters wanting more. After making a statement on the China “spy balloon” incident, journalists leapt at Mr Biden with questions. After being asked by a reporter, “Are you compromised by your family’s business relationships?” Mr Biden said, “give me a break, man” and walked off.

Last year, a clip of him smiling at reporters as they roared questions at him after his meeting with the Colombian president went viral as well. Many on social media said he “refuses to speak to journalists because he doesn’t have the answers”.

In 2021, a reporter called out the President for not taking questions. A CBS reporter said as Joe Biden turned to leave the room, “When will you answer questions about your meeting with Xi Jinping and other leaders? When will you answer our questions, sir?”