President Biden entered the White Home briefing room on Friday to audible gasps from reporters as he unexpectedly took the rostrum and fielded questions.
It was the primary time that Biden, 81, made an look throughout a White Home press briefing since he assumed workplace in 2021. The president spoke briefly in regards to the averted port staff strike, Friday’s constructive jobs numbers and introduced that he could request extra cash from Congress to fund Hurricane Helene aid efforts.
“We’re going to have to deal with unforeseen cost what this hurricane is going to cost. It’s going to cost a lot of money and I’m probably going to have to ask the Congress before we leave for more money to deal with some of those problems,” Biden mentioned.
The Biden-Harris administration has come beneath hearth from former President Trump for a purportedly insufficient response to the devastation left by Helene. The loss of life toll in southeastern states hit hardest by the storm has risen previous 215, with greater than 100 useless in western North Carolina alone.
BIDEN GETS DEFENSIVE WHEN PUSHED ON WHO’S ‘COMMANDING’ HURRICANE HELENE RESPONSE
White Home press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre fields a query for President Biden through the day by day press briefing on the White Home in Washington, D.C., on Friday. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP through Getty Photographs)
The White Home has pushed again onerous in opposition to these criticisms, emphasizing that Biden has coordinated the federal response, together with approving emergency declarations and deploying 1,000 active-duty troopers to assist search-and-rescue efforts. Greater than 4,800 personnel from FEMA and different businesses have been deployed to North Carolina and neighboring states impacted by Helene. Moreover, FEMA has shipped over 8.5 million meals, greater than 7 million liters of water, 150 turbines and over 220,000 tarps to help response efforts, in keeping with the White Home.
As of Friday, the federal authorities has offered greater than $45 million in Particular person Help to survivors impacted by the storm, White Home press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre mentioned, together with within the type of one-time $750 funds from FEMA to certified candidates in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
President Biden and White Home press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre arrive to talk on the day by day press briefing on the White Home in Washington, D.C., on Friday. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP through Getty Photographs)
Biden’s shock in-person look within the White Home briefing room comes after an Axios report highlighted his absence from public view within the closing months of his presidency.
Axios reported Thursday that Biden had not scheduled a public occasion in 43 of the 75 days since he dropped out of the 2024 presidential election. He has participated in only one marketing campaign occasion with Vice President Kamala Harris, who succeeded him because the Democratic nominee.
TRUMP TARGETS BIDEN, HARRIS OVER FEDERAL RESPONSE TO HURRICANE: ‘INCOMPETENTLY MANAGED’
President Biden speaks through the day by day press briefing on the White Home in Washington, D.C., on Friday. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP through Getty Photographs)
Critics, together with many Republicans, have questioned whether or not Biden is ready to deal with the pressures of the presidency at his superior age, noting that almost all of his public appearances are scheduled between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. The president has additionally solely given two interviews since July 21.
White Home spokesman Andrew Bates waved off criticism of Biden’s public schedule as a part of the White Home’s media technique in a press release to Axios.
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“Being commander-in-chief is about far more than public events, which are scheduled at strategic times to reach the most Americans possible, like before 20 million Americans watch the national evening news,” Bates informed the outlet.
He added the president “works around the clock, long before and after these times, as the historic results he continues to achieve weekly for the American people demonstrate.”
