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White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki Psaki defended President Joe Biden's remarks slapping at US reporters for asking questions that aren't 'on point' in front of a foreign head of state – and said his words weren't meant as a 'hard cut' on them.
She fielded multiple questions Monday from the media about Biden's comments to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where Biden urged his counterpart not to take questions and appeared to criticize US reporters.
'I think what we're going to do is bring in the press,' Biden said as the two men sat down in the Oval Office Friday before a bilateral meeting. 'The Indian press is much better behaved than the American press. I got to watch out, they'll knock one of those down,' Biden said as reporters began to come into the room.
'I think, with your permission, you should not answer questions because they won’t ask any questions on point,' Biden advised him.
It was a remark that was itself off topic from the message Biden meant to convey about cooperation among a group of foreign leaders known as the Quad.
His remarks came during a week when Biden took hits in the media for repeatedly avoiding attempts by reporters to question him – and where he ultimately did take some questions at a different Friday event to cap off a week with diplomatic intrigue and trouble at the
