Biden's team drafted the questions for his first post-debate interviews
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President Biden reads from a teleprompter during a Medal of Honor ceremony in the East Room of the White House on July 3, 2024, in Washington, D.C. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images
President Biden's White House went around its normal processes for his first post-debate interview with a Black radio station earlier this week.
Why it matters: The White House helped draft the questions that the host asked the president. Then the Biden campaign sent them to the radio station, given it was technically a campaign interview, a person familiar with the matter tells Axios.
- WURD is the only African-American owned and operated talk radio station in Pennsylvania, but the White House's director of Black media was not part of the process.
- It is the latest instance of the White House continuing to shield the president from unscripted moments, even after his debate performance raised further questions about his mental fitness.
Driving the news: Radio host Andrea Lawful-Sanders told CNN Saturday morning that her "questions were sent to me for approval; I approved of them."
- Lawful-Sanders, who hosts "The Source" on WURD in Philadelphia, added: "I got several questions — eight of them. And the four that were chosen were the ones that I approved."
- Earl Ingram, who interviewed Biden the day after for his show on a Black radio station in Milwaukee, also told ABC News Saturday: "Yes, I was given some questions for Biden."
What they're saying: Biden spokesperson Lauren Hitt told Axios that the "White House did not manage the process or the questions."
- "This was a campaign interview and, as such, it was handled by the campaign and our Black Media Director. To overcommunicate, the White House Black media director was not involved because it was a campaign interview and not a White House one."
Between the lines: Presented with this reporting, some Democrats think the White House was cynically and patronizingly using Black media at a moment of crisis.
- A Black Democratic strategist in the racial justice space told Axios: "The only reason President Biden is at the top of this ticket is his genuine, long-standing relationship with Black voters, built over decades. For his team to throw that relationship into jeopardy by using Black journalists as human shields for their communications crisis should be a fireable offense."
Zoom out: Michael LaRosa, the former press secretary for First Lady Jill Biden, told Axios that pre-submitting questions to interviewees has long been a tactic for Biden's team.
- When he joined the team in the fall of 2019, he said that some members tried to do the same for Jill Biden's interviews.
- "I was really uncomfortable and had to explain in a more colorful way," LaRosa said. "I said specifically. 'Look, it's unethical for you to do that. They can be called out for screening the questions for [Joe Biden] but we're not going to embarrass his wife that way. Ever. Do you get it?'"
Zoom in: The questions Lawful-Sanders asked were gentle and similar to those Ingram asked Biden the next day.
- On "The Earl Ingram Show" on WMCS in Milwaukee, he asked Biden: "Can you speak to some accomplishments that we may or not be familiar with about your record, especially here in Wisconsin?
- Lawful-Sanders asked the day before: "For people that may say 'what has the Biden-Harris administration done for me as a Black person' what progress has been made here in Pennsylvania?"
- Ingram asked: "A lot of people have been told or have the mindset that their vote doesn't matter. What can you say to them?
- Lawful-Sanders asked: "What do you say to the people who plan on sitting this election out?"
Hitt, the Biden spokesperson, added: "We do not condition interviews on acceptance of certain questions, and hosts/ reporters are always free to ask the questions they think will best inform their listeners."
Go deeper: Biden refuses to take cognitive test, denies he's losing to Trump
