First Lady Jill Biden reportedly yelled at White House staff members for failing to end President Biden’s second solo news conference in January as her husband continued to take questions despite then-press secretary Jen Psaki’s signal to end it. The New York Times reports that at the Jan. 19 press conference, President Biden was questioned about his management of the COVID-19 pandemic, the conflict between the United States and Russia over Ukraine, and the supply chain issue leading to a lack of commodities nationwide.
At the press conference, the president responded to questions from a pre-selected list of reporters for about an hour when Psaki stood to end the event. However, the president persisted, causing Psaki to get up about 20 minutes later and make another apparent attempt to halt the questioning by walking to a door approximately 50 feet from the seating area. The president then asked his audience, which had been reduced to 30 reporters because of pandemic restrictions, how long they wanted him to stay. Biden stated he’d continue for another 20 minutes but continued for another 30 to 40 minutes.
According to the Times article, Jill Biden interrupted a meeting of senior White House officials discussing the president’s performance after the two-hour news conference. She asked the group, which included the president, why nobody stepped in to stop it, stating, “Where was the person, she demanded, who was supposed to end the news conference?
The outlet claimed the first lady has been protective of her husband and even recruited White House workers and press aides, including interviewing Psaki with the president. Additionally, the article noted that she had become the preferred surrogate ahead of the midterm elections.
