According to a statement released by the White House on Thursday, it is “completely normal” for a president to be briefed on the topics that would be covered by reporters before of a news conference.
President Joe Biden was spotted the day before with a piece of paper in his hand that seemed to be a reporter’s inquiry.
The news channel and pronunciation guides for the reporter’s name were also provided.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the president’s press secretary, told reporters in a separate meeting, “It’s perfectly normal for a president to be briefed on the reporters who will ask questions at a press conference and the topics we think they might ask about.”
Biden was reportedly spotted clutching a cheat sheet titled “question 1” at Wednesday’s press conference with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, as reported by Breitbart News. A reporter for the Los Angeles Times contributed to the information sheet.
The New York Post said that a separate sheet of paper included “the names of other Biden administration officials who would tell the press conference’s speakers what order they would speak.” One more document detailed what Biden considered to be his “top accomplishments.”
A document with the title “Tough Q&A” was produced.
Jean-Pierre said that the card’s answers did not correspond to the question.
We don’t practice that kind of thing,” she said, adding, “We don’t know what questions to ask ahead of time.”
According to Breitbart News, Biden had a similar cheat sheet in his possession during a news conference more than two years ago.
On that day, Oliver Contreras, a pool photographer for the White House, snapped a photo of a cheat sheet that had numbered snapshots of the reporters in attendance.