Biden exposes 'cheat sheet' to reporters
US President Joe Biden inadvertently showed off, on Thursday, a prepared note card with step-by-step instructions for basic actions during a press briefing, including how to enter the room, where to sit and how long he should speak.
While addressing reporters during a ‘Meeting on Federal State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership’, Biden was seen reading off the ‘cheat sheet,’ at one point holding it up long enough for photographers to capture a clear shot.
“YOU enter the Roosevelt Room and say hello to participants,” the note card began, also reminding the president “YOU take YOUR seat” before reporters arrived.
Good grief. pic.twitter.com/B8IqjM8S2Q
— Brit Hume (@brithume) June 24, 2022
The bullet-pointed list went on to direct Biden to give “brief comments” before addressing labor leader Liz Shuler, who heads up the AFL-CIO and attended the meeting remotely. He was then instructed to “thank participants” and “depart.”
Though the notes were surprisingly specific for such basic gestures, a former White House communications official told Fox News the card followed “a very standard format used by politicians and government officials at public events,” adding that it was also employed by Biden’s former boss, ex-President Barack Obama.
Still, Biden’s notes have made headlines in the past, with a staffer seen passing the commander-in-chief a missive informing him there was “something on [his] chin” during an event last July. More recently, after appearing to demand the ouster of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in March, the president was spotted with a sheet entitled “Tough Putin Q&A Talking Points,” which advised him on how to field questions from journalists.
Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump drew similar attention in the press for his notes, in one case seen with simple prepared responses – such as “I hear you” – during a White House session with victims and family members of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.
