Putin One Ups Joe Biden Right out of the Gate in the Most Embarrassing Way Possible – Opinion

Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Joe Biden held a meeting/call over increasing tensions with Russia and Ukraine. This call was initiated by U.S intelligence reports which suggest that Russia has plans to build 175,000 troops on the border in just a few months.

U.S. officials said prior to the call that “Biden will tell Putin that Russia and its banks could be hit with the toughest economic sanctions yet if it invades Ukraine.”

Details of the call have not yet been released, but my RedState colleague Bill Robinson speculated here as to what might have been discussed and what it would mean not just for Ukraine but other countries in the region depending on how seriously (or not) Putin took Biden’s alleged sanctions threats.

Though it’s understandable that calls of such a sensitive nature between world leaders are not broadcast in full for the everyone to hear, one would think that in the interest of transparency the American press would get to document at least the start of it, if for no other reason to snag a quick video and a few photos as well as to get a general idea as to the moods of those participating on the call before the muscle-flexing and head-butting begins.

But that didn’t happen today. It didn’t happen with American media. Unbelievably (or entirely believable considering the Biden administration’s open hostility to what typically has been a friendly-to-Biden/Dems press corps), the first glimpse the American people got of the call came through not anyone with the U.S. press but instead Russian state TV.

You can see the text on the screen. We don’t need a translator (nor a CNN reporter) to tell us this was not an American broadcast:

Russian state television shows the beginning of a meeting between Biden & Putin pic.twitter.com/pX1GqefSty

— Kevin Liptak (@Kevinliptakcnn) December 7, 2021

And just why is it that we didn’t get the U.S. media’s view of the early moments of the call? Because the Biden White House didn’t allow it:

Putin can hear President Biden saying, “I hope we can next time meet in person.”

Russia allowed state media in for a short video spray of the first few moments of the call – the White House did not allow American press any access. https://t.co/KcBZwHdFQK

— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) December 7, 2021

This is so frickety friggin’ pathetic and embarrassing not just to me as a media analyst but also as an American citizen, so much so that I’m almost at a loss for words not. Almost but not quite.

It reminds me of the story from a few weeks ago where the Biden White House canceled the scheduled, traditional “Three Amigos” presser with the leaders of Canada and Mexico out of an abundance of caution because Biden made a series of blunders in the span of 24 hours earlier that week that had staffers behind the scenes struggling to correct the record.

This was made worse by the fact that Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister, actually planned his own press conference with Canadian media on the same day as the North American leaders. Joe Biden didn’t do the same for the American media. Therefore, we were unable to get details about their discussions from our leader.

As I said at the time, we shouldn’t have to find out what happened (or get the general idea of what will happen) during a Biden event from the leaders of the countries that participated in the event, nor TheirThere are many media outlets (state-run, or not). We should be able to find out directly from our media and the White House, specifically the President of the United States himself, even if it’s just a few brief words.

Let’s also not forget the cringe-inducing moment from a public appearance Biden made at the White House with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in September where Johnson actually took questions from UK reporters and Biden’s handlers proceeded to cut Johnson off so the American press wouldn’t get the idea they could ask Biden some questions, too. When asked about the awkward moment later during a press briefing, press secretary Jen Psaki actually had the nerve to blame Johnson and his staff for not “alerting” the White House that that’s what he was going to do.

And in a similar incident a few days later, Biden actually urged India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to take questions from the American press because, in Biden’s words, the Indian press were “much better behaved” and the American press “won’t ask any questions on point.”

For all the whining from the media about Trump’s dislike of the press, at least he was honest about it. With the Biden administration, you get platitudes about “respecting and valuing” the freedom of the press while they simultaneously slap them in the faces and activate their media avoidance strategies so as to avoid another Biden gaffe.

We criticize the American media here often but it’s because of their liberal biases, not their existence. The press is there for a reason – to report the news and to hold the powerful accountable. They have the right to use their First Amendment rights. It is shameful that the US President refuses to recognize the fundamental elements of this nation’s success while the leaders of other countries have less access to the press. This should be a source of embarrassment for everyone.

Flashback:Joe Biden has just revealed the most shocking and sobering commentary ever.