#GoodMorningDC.Biden's first press conference was a total waste of time.
Good Morning DC! It’s Friday, and the weekend is just around the corner! Beginning Monday, March 29, in DC, all essential employees in the media and mass communications will be eligible for a vaccine. Hooray!
Biden’s first press conference was a total waste of time. An act of media complacency. Not a single question about the pandemic. No questions about gun control. No questions about North Korea. No push back. No hard questions. No hands raised. Just waiting, in dead silence, for the principal to call on a pupil. Is this what the free press has come to in America?
Does anyone really care if Biden is going to run against Trump in 2024? Why is there a need for blood in the water? Perhaps because the cable news networks’ ratings are going through the floor without a reality show providing all-day drama featuring the ultimate antagonist. Everyone I know in DC journalism who watched this press conference told me that they feel embarrassed with the display of complacency and lack of real questions. The press’ performance grade? C-.
On the policy note, Biden talked about the underlying reason for illegal immigration to the US by blaming Trump for the cut in foreign aid that makes living conditions unbearable for people to sustain.
“I guess I should be flattered that people are coming because I’m the nice guy; that’s the reason why it’s happening — that I’m a decent man or however it’s phrased,” Biden said. However, he insists that, “Nothing has changed.” According to POTUS, people come every single year no matter who is the President. “There is a significant increase in the number of people coming to the border in the winter months of January, February, March. That happens every year.”
Biden’s overall grade? B+/A-
After the press conference, Biden spoke with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The President conveyed his hope for stability in the Eastern Mediterranean. They also agreed to coordinate on issues of shared interest, including energy security, China, Russia and the Western Balkans.
Actress Jennifer Garner and the First Lady Jill Biden were supposed to travel to Birmingham and Jasper in Alabama today. Yet, due to severe weather across the South and the tragic loss of life it caused Alabama, their trip has been postponed.
A ship got stuck in the Suez Canal, suspending global maritime travel. Now, small tug boats are attempting to release the massive boat, a feat they believe could take days to weeks. The ship, which may I add is taller than the Empire State Building, is now blocking the canal and will delay global commerce just as it was ramping back up after Covid.
While the delays in maritime travel will be detrimental and chaotic, it is like watching a car accident as you pass by. As the seemingly tiny tug boats attempt to move the loaming cargo ship, the entire world has rubbernecked to the ship. While a stuck ship that delays global maritime travel may be damaging to a company, the internet falling in love with you may just save you.
Across the pond, the front page of Metro headlines Macron’s confession that the EU is to blame for a failure in vaccine rollout. “We did not shoot for the stars,” Macron says. Since we are at confessions, Jane Fonda has one too, and it’s headlined on the cover of the Daily Mail: “My sex confession…at 83.” Financial Times writes about the international implication of the pandemic headlining the story “India deals blow to global Covid fight by blocking vaccine exports.”
The Times features an investigative story about an academic Paul McKeigue, at the University of Edinburgh. Like in real-world spy thrillers, the Times writes that the professor has been in contact with a fake Russian spy and has been giving names of individuals he claims are working for western intelligence.
Chrissy Teigen left Twitter. By her own volition. Perhaps we should all follow suit.
And that’s a wrap for this Friday morning, March 26, 2021. Time flies. April is just a few days away. Good Morning DC will be back on Monday to bring you the latest and most relevant first.