U.S. President Joe Biden's first formal news conference lasted an hour, with the briefing tackling the southern border, COVID-19 vaccines, the 2024 election, and more.
Border Crisis: Biden Promises Improvements for Lone Minors
Much of the new White House briefing focused on the apparent crisis at the southern border with Mexico as expectations mount on the new administration's actions on immigration and border management.
When asked about how he would handle reports about unaccompanied minors at the border, Biden said he is "not going to" allow the children to "starve to death and stay on the other side."
Biden went on to say that it was only the Trump administration that allowed such a thing to occur. "I'm not going to do it," he said twice.
The former vice president in the Barack Obama administration said that the government will work to move "a thousand of those kids out quickly," referring to the border protection facility in Texas.
According to Biden, Fort Bliss' opening was dedicated to moving the children to a safer housing facility. He said poor shelter conditions at migrant facilities were "totally unacceptable."
2024 Election? YES
Biden was pressed about his future political plans. Observers said his temper was tested as reporters pressed him further about border facilities and his political future.
In the end, Biden confirmed that he was planning to run for reelection in 2024. He did acknowledge the fact that some events may come in the way of his reelection plans.
This would be the first time Biden spoke about the 2024 election and his plans to hopefully become U.S. president for a second term.
200 Million Vaccine Shots within 100 Days in Office
During the conference, Biden also touched on his administration's COVID-19 response.
The U.S. president, who has been in office for two months, said the new goal is to distribute 200 million COVID-19 vaccination shots before his first 100 days in office pass by.
Biden acknowledged that his goal was "ambitious." On the other hand, he said the United States would be the only country to "come close" to what it has been doing in response to the pandemic.
In the past week, around 2.5 million vaccine doses have been rolled out, a pace much faster than what former president Donald Trump's administration distributed.
Late and Scripted?
Talk has been rife over the past few weeks about Biden's "late" first news briefing by standard. Unlike recent presidents, his first formal news conference waited well over two months since he was sworn-in on Jan. 20.
The Biden administration has been under extreme pressure from media agencies to schedule the event as soon as possible. His staff has since explained that the president had his hands full over the past two months due to pandemic response.
There have also been comments about Biden's responses to reporters being scripted. Photos during the event showed the 78-year-old holding a card with the label "infrastructure."
One of the bullet points on the card mentioned bridges, while another noted that China is spending "three times more" on infrastructure projects compared to the U.S.
Before Biden's first formal news briefing, critics have urged the White House staff to fix Biden's schedule so he can be available for press questioning regularly.
While Biden's "cheat sheets" were put on the spotlight Thursday, this is not the first time a U.S. president used prompts or notes during briefings. Trump also used a notebook during his first impeachment hearing.
