CNN panelist calls out Biden joke about never taking questions from the press: 'He was laughing at you'

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CNN political commentator says President Biden is 'mocking' the press during WH Correspondents' Dinner

CNN political commentator Scott Jennings said Saturday that President Biden was "mocking" the press during the White House Correspondents' Dinner by joking about not taking the media's questions.

CNN's Scott Jennings called out President Biden after making a joke about never taking questions from the media on Saturday during the White House Correspondents' Dinner, arguing the president was "laughing at" members of the press. 

"On Biden, the line that will stick with me is, ‘in a lot of ways, this dinner sums up my first two years in office, I’ll talk for 10 minutes, take zero questions, and cheerfully walk away,’" Jennings said during a panel discussion on CNN. "For the journalists in the room, he wasn't laughing with you, he was laughing at you." 

Jennings said Biden was "mocking the press."

"The guy does not take questions, he’s up there joking about it," he continued. "I'm pro-reporter, and I think the President of the United States ought to have to talk to these reporters and not mock them."

CNN political commentator Scott Jennings said Saturday that President Biden was mocking the press. (Screenshot/CNN)

The rest of the panelists seemed to disagree, instead calling out former president Donald Trump. 

"How did it compare to the speech that Donald Trump did for the White House Correspondents' Dinner?" CNN's John Berman said. "He didn't give them, he didn't show." 

"Because he doesn't respect reporters and I mean, that's the hypocrisy," Ashley Allison, a former national coalitions director for the Biden-Harris campaign, said. 

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Jennings argued that Trump does take questions from reporters. 

President Joe Biden leaves St. Edmond Catholic Church in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on April 15, 2023. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

"Well, he's also demonized the entire profession," Allison retorted. "So it's like, sure have your critique of Joe Biden, but I would take Joe Biden's stance on the press and freedom of speech over Donald Trump any day. I mean, he wouldn’t even go to the dinner because he has such thin skin." 

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The president took a few questions from the media during a joint press conference with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday. 

Photos from the event showed Biden's notecards and signaled he had advanced knowledge of a question from The Los Angeles Times journalist Courtney Subramanian.

President Joe Biden arrives to deliver remarks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 21, 2023. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

"How are YOU squaring YOUR domestic priorities — like reshoring semiconductors manufacturing — with alliance-based foreign policy?" Biden's note card read. 

Subramanian asked a similar question, saying, "Your top economic priority has been to build up U.S. domestic manufacturing in competition with China, but your rules against expanding chip manufacturing in China is hurting South Korean companies that rely heavily on Beijing. Are you damaging a key ally in the competition with China to help your domestic politics ahead of the election?"

The Los Angeles Times denied coordinating with the White House ahead of time on the question. 

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