If anyone was hoping the third time would be the charm for consistently constructive or tough questions at a post-election Joe Biden press conference, Thursday illustrated that such a hope was a fool’s errand. Over the course of the 15-minute availability, the Biden team had the former vice president receive questions from only four reporters with three of them offering softballs.
ABC senior congressional correspondent Mary Bruce continued her accumulation of quite a highlight reel if she ever wanted to join the Biden administration, wondering to Biden in the first of two questions: “How many lives do you think are at risk here if this transition remains stalled?”
Her second and third questions weren’t any better (click “expand”):
BRUCE: And when you take a step back and look at the way the President is handling this, his refusal to concede, what do you think is really going on here? In your view, Mr. President-Elect, what do you think the President is doing? What are Americans witnessing here?
BIDEN: Let me choose my words. I think they're witnessing incredible irresponsibility, incredibly damaging messages being sent to the rest of the world about how democracy functions, and I think it is — well, I don't know his motive, but I just think it's totally irresponsible.
BRUCE: Are you concerned he may succeed, that people may question the legitimacy of your administration?
Taking the place of Mike Memoli from the first presser and Geoff Bennett in the second, NBC’s Kristen Welker represented the Comcast network and started by yukking it up with Biden about how it was “nice to see you” in-person.
Predictably, it was a precursor to her softball: “You have said that lives could be lost if you don't start getting briefings from the Trump administration and now here we are, more than 250,000 lives could be lost. Given that, how do you justify not taking legal action to get the briefings that you say are critical, that you say you need?”
After asking a follow-up lamenting about Biden not “us[ing] every tool in your toolbox” to get the transition going, Welker asked two more about possible legal action against the General Services Administration (GSA) to begin a formal presidential transition.
Welker then used the remainder of her time to press Biden on another set of lockdowns to curb the spread of the coronavirus (click “expand”):
WELKER: Okay. And given the death toll now, more than 250,000 Americans who have now lost their lives, you have said that you would support a nationwide shutdown if scientists recommended it.
BIDEN: No. Let — no.
WELKER: You've spoken to scientists now —
BIDEN: I know. Everybody asks that question every single time I stand here. It was a hypothetical question. The answer was, I would follow the science. I am not going to shut down the economy, period. I'm going to shut down the virus. That's what I'm going to shut down.
WELKER: So that's ruled out?
BIDEN: I'll say again, no national shutdown. No national shutdown, because every region, every area, every community is — can be different.
MSNBC contributor and PBS correspondent Yamiche Alcindor was also there, so Bruce had quite the competition for who could suck up the most to the new administration.
In her first question, Alcindor wondered what he made of the Trump campaign’s actions in Michigan and used that to wonder about his message to new Americans: “And what did you say to Americans, especially immigrant Americans who came to the United States, looking for political stability and are seeing all the things that the President is doing?”
Alcindor had a follow-up about whether he’s “rethink[ing]” his “strategy” and moving toward forcing the GSA’s hand, but then asked this of Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA):
[Y]ou talked about your state — your state experience. My question is, is there anything you heard from governors today that made you specifically concerned about vulnerable populations, especially as I talk to Americans who say I don't have the privilege to work from home? I don't have the privilege to social distance if I'm living in a house with multigenerations. Are you — are you — did you hear anything that concerns you specifically? And what can we do for them as a country?
Eye roll.
As for the reporter that chose not to be a Biden sycophant, Bloomberg’s Justin Sink asked Biden about the outlines of a coronavirus relief package, who would be his Treasury secretary, sanctions against China, and the state of the U.S. dollar.
In this day and age, what a lonely job it must be for journalist who actually ask real questions of Democrats.
MSNBC’s coverage of the Biden press conference was made possible by advertisers such as Netflix and Sling TV. CNN did not have ads during its 4:00 p.m. Eastern hour, but follow the links on the MSNBC ads to the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant transcript from November 19's Biden press conference, click “expand.”
Joe Biden Press Conference
November 19, 2020
4:22 p.m. EasternJUSTIN SINK: I know you mentioned the economic impact and talked a bit about the relief package you wanted. But I was wondering if we could talk about things that you will be able to do as president or what will sort govern your decision in terms of the economy. So I was wondering if I could ask, what kind of framework are you thinking about as you decide about a treasury secretary going forward, whether you would consider — you had said during the debates that you wanted to punish China over the way that they've been acting, whether that could include economic sanctions or tariffs with China. And, finally, do you think a strong dollar helps or hurts the U.S. as we're grappling with historic unemployment?
(....)
4:24 p.m. Eastern
JOE BIDEN: And what was your third question?
SINK: It was about the dollar, sir, whether you think a strong dollar will help or hurt with unemployment or generally just how you would like the federal reserve to sort of approach the pandemic?
(....)
4:26 p.m. Eastern
MARY BRUCE: You have said that if this transition doesn't get going, especially coordination on vaccine distribution, that lives will be lost. How many lives do you think are at risk here if this transition remains stalled?
(....)
4:26 p.m. Eastern
BRUCE: And when you take a step back and look at the way the President is handling this, his refusal to concede, what do you think is really going on here? In your view, Mr. President-Elect, what do you think the President is doing? What are Americans witnessing here?
BIDEN: Let me choose my words. I think they're witnessing incredible irresponsibility, incredibly damaging messages being sent to the rest of the world about how democracy functions, and I think it is — well, I don't know his motive, but I just think it's totally irresponsible.
BRUCE: Are you concerned he may succeed, that people may question the legitimacy of your administration?
(....)
4:28 p.m. Eastern
KRISTEN WELKER: Thank you, Mr. President-Elect. Thank you, Vice President-Elect Harris. Appreciate it.
BIDEN: Nice to be in person, not on television.
WELKER: Nice to see you as well. Yes, appreciate it. You have said that lives could be lost if you don't start getting briefings from the Trump administration and now here we are, more than 250,000 lives could be lost. Given that, how do you justify not taking legal action to get the briefings that you say are critical, that you say you need?
BIDEN: It would take a lot of time. It would take time. It's not going to speed it up considerably, in my view. And in the meantime, I am hopeful that I am going to be able to get cooperation from our Republican colleagues in the Senate and the House, as well as the governors to build a consensus as to how we proceed when we do.
WELKER: But why not use every tool in your toolbox to get the information that you say you need to do your job and to do it effectively on day one?
BIDEN: I'm making a judgment based on many years of experience of how to get things done with the opposition.
WELKER: Do you think you'll win?
BIDEN: And my judgment is — my judgment is that it is — we'll get further along by actually working with our Republican colleagues now and — because the time in which we would win would not materially change necessarily, but it's still an open question. It's an open question. It could change.
WELKER: So you haven't ruled out? You haven’t ruled out legal action against the Trump administration against the GSA?
BIDEN: We haven't ruled it out.
WELKER: Okay. And given the death toll now, more than 250,000 Americans who have now lost their lives, you have said that you would support a nationwide shutdown if scientists recommended it.
BIDEN: No. Let — no.
WELKER: You've spoken to scientists now —
BIDEN: I know. Everybody asks that question every single time I stand here. It was a hypothetical question. The answer was, I would follow the science. I am not going to shut down the economy, period. I'm going to shut down the virus. That's what I'm going to shut down.
WELKER: So that's ruled out?
BIDEN: I'll say again, no national shutdown. No national shutdown, because every region, every area, every community is — can be different.
(....)
4:31 p.m. Eastern
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Thank you, Mr. Vice President-Elect. And Vice — thank you, Mr. President-Elect and Vice President-Elect Harris. A question for you first, which is what do you make of the fact that the President is having these calls with Michigan county officials amid his bid to overturn the election? He's going to be having also Michigan Republican legislators at the White House tomorrow. Is anything that he's doing that is making you rethink your strategy? You say you don't want legal action right now. And what did you say to Americans, especially immigrant Americans who came to the United States, looking for political stability and are seeing all the things that the President is doing?
(....)4:33 p.m. Eastern
ALCINDOR: But as he — as he ups the things that he's doing, calling officials, is it making you rethink your strategy at all? Is there anything that he would be doing that would make you say okay, we really have to go to court now? Or are you still watching what he's doing and saying we can still kind of wait and see what happens?
BIDEN: I'm not going to rule anything out, or anything in, but at the moment, the strategy is not changing.
ALCINDOR: And if I could ask a question to the Vice President-Elect, would that be okay?
BIDEN: Sure.
ALCINDOR: Vice President-Elect Harris, you talked about your state — your state experience. My question is, is there anything you heard from governors today that made you specifically concerned about vulnerable populations, especially as I talk to Americans who say I don't have the privilege to work from home? I don't have the privilege to social distance if I'm living in a house with multigenerations. Are you — are you — did you hear anything that concerns you specifically? And what can we do for them as a country?
