Biden mocked after Putin meeting for calling on pre-approved reporters

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Biden mocked after Putin meeting for calling on pre-approved reporters
President Biden was mocked for "saying the quiet part out loud" on Wednesday when he admitted at the outset of his news conference in Geneva he would only be calling on reporters from a prepared list.

"I’ll take your questions, and as usual, folks, they gave me a list of the people I’m going to call on," Biden told reporters following his anticipated meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Observers wondered whether the "they" Biden referred to was his communications team.

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Biden has often relied on pre-approved lists for news conferences. At his first formal news conference as president in January, most of the questions he took were from reporters that were pre-selected by his team. 

Then in March, Biden was seen consulting a "cheat sheet" that appeared to show the photos and news outlets of journalists who attended his news conference, some of whom had a circled number next to their images. 

The president has also taken some heat for not holding more news conferences, a criticism White House press secretary Jen Psaki pushed back on in a seemingly softball interview with CNN's Brian Stelter.

Psaki claimed Biden "takes questions several times a week." She has also admitted that she advises the president against taking impromptu questions. CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM OUR TOP STORY.

In other developments:
- Stephen Colbert mocks Biden's ‘Grandpa’s had it with your lip' energy in clash with CNN reporter
- Biden snaps at reporter over Putin question
- CNN's Zeleny after Biden presser: I have never seen a president 'so protected by his aides' from our questions
- Nikki Haley: Biden essentially 'gave Putin a big kiss' during Geneva summit
- Hannity: Putin received a massive platform in exchange for zero concessions
- Vladimir Putin is exploiting our domestic issues: Brian Kilmeade
- Ingraham: 'Joe don't know' but president's first foreign trip an ‘unmitigated disaster’

NYT reporter claims teachers can't explain Juneteenth to students in 'fear' of 'critical race theory backlash'
New York Times reporter Astead Herndon was slammed by critics for suggesting that teachers will refrain from explaining the importance of Juneteenth "out of fear" of critical race theory opponents. 

On Wednesday, the U.S. House overwhelmingly passed a bill 415-14 to make Juneteenth a federal holiday, one day after the bill passed in the Senate. Juneteenth, or June 19, commemorates the emancipation of slaves in Texas, which occurred June 19, 1865.

Herndon, a CNN political analyst, presented the apparent conundrum he said teachers will face going forward. 

"its kinda amazing: juneteenth is gonna be a federal holiday for reasons teachers won't be allowed to explain to their students out of fear critical race theory backlash," Herndon tweeted. 

Critics slammed the Times reporter for suggesting that the rejection of teaching critical race theory in schools equates to the rejection of teaching slavery and the Civil Rights Movement. 

"Stopping the teaching of Critical Race Theory does not prevent teachers from talking about slavery, Jim Crow, or Juneteenth... that's just a flat out lie from a very dishonest person," wrote Ryan James Girdusky, founder of the 1776 Project PAC that was formed to combat CRT on a school board level. CLICK HERE FOR MORE. 

In other developments:
- NC Rep. Murphy's Campus Free Speech and Restoration Act aims to send First Amendment back to school
- Charles Murray warns US is at 'crisis point' where division on race, class may leave an 'America' in name only
- Teacher defends pushing critical race theory on students, calls opponents racist
- Virginia parents slam McAuliffe for calling CRT objections a 'right-wing conspiracy': 'We're a huge coalition'

Offices of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy newspaper raided, executives arrested
Hundreds of police officers in Hong Kong swarmed the offices of the pro-democracy Apple Daily on Thursday and arrested several executives in what was called a "blatant attack" on its editorial team.

The Apple Daily ran its own story about the raid and said five of its executives were arrested for breaking Article 29 of Beijing's controversial national security law, which prohibits "collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security."

An adviser for Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong billionaire and founder of Next Digital, Apple Daily's parent, called the raid a "blatant attack."

"They are arresting editors," adviser Mark Simon told Reuters. "They're arresting the top editorial folks."

Sunny Cheung, an activist who has been in exile from Hong Kong after a warrant was issued for his arrest, told Fox News in a phone call that the raid shows the Chinese Communist Party's effort to repress press freedoms.

Beijing has clamped down on civil liberties in response to protests. Hong Kong authorities have arrested and charged most of the city’s pro-democracy advocates, including Joshua Wong, a student leader during the 2014 protests. Scores of others have fled abroad. CLICK HERE FOR MORE. 

In other developments:
- Liberal networks turn blind eye after Jon Stewart goes viral with Wuhan lab-leak theory on ‘Late Show’
- Sen. Cotton warns that China may try to collect DNA from athletes during Olympics
- Chinese Communist Party-linked newspaper highlights political cartoon mocking Christianity, West after G-7
- Fauci denies scientists 'deliberately suppressed' lab theory

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#TheFlashback: CLICK HERE to find out what happened on "This Day in History"

SOME PARTING WORDS

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Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday night slammed President Biden's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which happened earlier in the day.

"Let’s be clear, the so-called summit with Vladimir Putin did absolutely nothing to advance any American interests in any way. That's a fact," the "Hannity" host said. "Instead, Vladimir received a massive platform in exchange for zero concessions whatsoever and then Putin used that platform to take shot after shot after shot at our country, the United States of America."

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