It is the job of The Press to ask those in power the tough questions. But it is truly surprising that CNN decided they would go off script and ask Biden an actual question. Biden did not take the betrayal well and was immediately angered by the reporter. So much so that he told CNN Kaitlan Collins that she was in the wrong business.
It exchange happened right after the Geneva meeting.
“Why are you so confident he’ll change his behavior, Mr. President?” CNN’s Kaitlan Collins shouted at Biden as he was walking away from The Press.
“I’m not confident he’ll change his behavior, when the hell, what the hell do you do all day? Biden then stuck up a finger and continued, “When did I say I was confident? What I said, What I said was, Let’s get it straight. I said what will change their behavior is if the rest of the world reacts to them and diminishes their standing in the world. I’m not confident of anything. I’m just stating a fact.”
“But given his past behavior has not changed, and in that press conference after sitting down with you for several hours, he denied any involvement in cyberattacks, he downplayed human rights abuses, he even refused to say [Russian dissident] Alexei Navalny’s name. So, how does that account to a constructive meeting?” Collins asked.
“If you don’t understand that, you’re in the wrong business,” Biden said, done with The Press.
Watch The Clip Below
Biden says he's "not confident" Putin and the Kremlin will change their behavior, but "what will change their behavior is that the rest of the world reacts to them and it diminishes their standing in their world. I'm not confident of anything." https://t.co/PLngnYnuuB pic.twitter.com/gzqWW0oU3H
— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 16, 2021
“Moments later, before boarding Air Force One, Biden apologized for losing his temper at Collins.
“I apologize for having been short,” Biden said, before later telling reporters gathered outside the plane, “You never ask positive questions.”
Twitter blew up over the president’s temper.
“If you’re the most powerful person in the world and you can’t field questions from the media without losing your temper, maybe you’re in the wrong business,” New York Magazine’s Olivia Nuzzi commented.
“Biden flips out almost every time he is asked an even vaguely pointed question — true during the campaign and true as president,” Justice Department reporter for the Washington Examiner Jerry Dunleavy pointed out.
It looks like CNN was just going off-script here. I think that’s what the real offense here is. I am surprised Biden was able to answer so coherently. I guess they finally got him on the right meds, or maybe he is just more with it during the day. Either way, there was nothing wrong with that question, and as president, he should have handled it far better.