The White House press corps desperately wants to love Joe Biden, simply because he is not Donald Trump.  But the stresses and strains of traveling with an addled figurehead, with a bad temper and a need for "lids" that keep the media away from him, started to accumulate on his first European tour.  Signs of hurt, anger, and distrust are starting to accumulate.  In the end, the editors back in New York and Washington will do their best to protect Biden, but unhappiness in the ranks of those who travel with him is not a good sign for the continued ability of his handlers to keep the public bamboozled about his senescence and the identity and power of his handlers.

On Monday, the media were kept waiting two and a half hours for Biden to speak to them, with no explanation.  My guess is he was getting jabbed with vitamins, or maybe stimulants, or God knows what sort of pharmaceuticals to revive him and make him semi-coherent.  NewsBusters reported on how it all played out on MSNBC, with this compilation of excuses for the delay of his appearance "any moment now."

With Biden, there is a lot of waiting.  He earned the nickname "Slow Joe" long before age took its toll, mainly for his mental limitations, but it applies to his promptness as well.  

Vince Coglianese of WMAL radio in D.C. tweeted out a recording (you have to listen closely) of reporters sarcastically discussing the kind of stupid questions that would be posed, in essence mocking their own status as lapdogs:

Reporters waiting for Biden arrival joke about their questions:

"What did you think of the vice president's trip, Mr. President?"

"When are you going to the border, Mr President?" *laughs*

"Where's Hunter?"

"What ice cream did you…"

"What kind of gift did you bring?"

Reporters waiting for Biden arrival joke about their questions:

“What did you think of the vice president’s trip, Mr. President?”

“When are you going to the border, Mr President?” *laughs*

“Where’s Hunter?”

“What ice cream did you…”

“What kind of gift did you bring?” pic.twitter.com/qJ4PJaNGjE

— Vince Coglianese (@VinceCoglianese) June 16, 2021

Then, not fully appreciating the devotion of his claque masquerading as journalists, he let his temper show after a mildly inquisitive question from a member of his fan club. Steven Hayward of Powerline summarizes:

About that slobbering press. Not one question to Biden about dropping our sanctions on the Russian Nordstream II pipeline? Apparently not. But even the fawning press managed to goad Biden into a classic, old-guy “get off my lawn!” moment.  CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked Biden is he was confident that he could change Putin’s behavior. Biden snapped:

I’m not confident I’m not going to change his behavior. What the hell? What do you do all the time? When did I say I was confident? I said, let’s get it straight, I said what will change his 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 the facts.

When Collins offered a skeptical follow up about whether Putin acknowledged any of Biden’s complaints, he snapped: “If you don’t understand that, you’re in the wrong business.”

Biden's "get off my lawn" moment (YouTube screen grab).

Here is video of the exchange, under a minute in length, in which you can hear the annoyed tone of voice he uses:

In a clear sign that this abuse could cost him in the future, he apologized:

And she accepted, on air.  The cause must be served.

Kaitlan Collins accepts Joe Biden’s apology on the air - noting that he didn’t have to do that, but adds that “it was not necessary” as she was just doing her job.

— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) June 16, 2021

Aaron Rupar of Vox tried to put the blame on Collins and got his butt handed to him on Twitter:

Wow, nice mansplaining. https://t.co/OwBQbu8mvy

— Chief Impact Officer BT (@back_ttys) June 16, 2021

More of these on Twitchy.

But perhaps the oddest target in the traveling media was Yamiche Alcindor, the NPR reporter who has gushed all over Biden as a "moral, decent man" when purportedly asking a question at the White House.  She had the temerity to report on a bit of body language that the comms team didn't favor, and so she earned a rebuke from comms director Kate Beddingfield:

It was a chaotic scrum with reporters shouting over each other. @POTUS was very clearly not responding to any one question, but nodding in acknowledgment to the press generally. He said just two days ago in his presser: “verify, then trust.” https://t.co/5C9gP4XTtO

— Kate Bedingfield (@WHCommsDir) June 16, 2021

Don't expect a lot of investigative reporting into Biden's scandals, or into his puppet masters.  But even members of his own team pretending to be journalists are getting their fill of incompetence, contempt, and deception from the figurehead president.

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