Biden’s ‘well-behaved’ comment on Indian media wasn’t a ‘hard cut’ on American media: White House

While US president Joe Biden’s comment on Indian media being “much better behaved” was received as a compliment in India, some in the American media weren’t as happy about it.

At the White House briefing on Monday, press secretary Jen Psaki faced numerous questions pertaining to the president’s remarks. Defending them, Psaki said that Biden’s comments were not meant as a "hard cut" on the members of the American media.

Biden had made the comment while sitting with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday, and referred to the Indian media as being “better behaved” than the American press, NDTV reported.

Biden was hosting Modi at the Oval Office in the White House for the first in-person bilateral meeting after he took over as the president in January 2021. Biden suggested they could not answer the press’s questions during their talk as they wouldn’t be on point anyway. Modi, who is known to never field questions from the press, agreed to the suggestion.

In the aftermath of the incident, the White House staff had to defend the president’s statement.
NDTV quoted Psaki as saying: "I think what he said is that they're not always ‘on point’,” Psaki said (“they” being American mediapersons). “Now, I know that isn't something that anyone wants to hear here. But what I think he was conveying is, you know, today, he might want to talk about Covid vaccines; some of the questions were about that. He might want to talk about – and some of the questions are not always about the topic he's talking about that day.”

Another reporter pointed out that comparison between the Indian and the American media was unwarranted, as the Indian press is ranked 142nd in the world for press freedom while the US media is ranked 44th, according to Reporters Without Borders.

Psaki responded that “having seen that he's taking questions from the press more than 140 times...he certainly respects the role of the press, the role of the freedom of the free press.”