President Joe Biden snapped at the press on Thursday night for hounding him with questions about the classified documents scandal engulfing his administration instead of climate change – then opened his binder to read a prepared statement.
When a reporter asked if he had any ‘regrets’ about the sensitive files debacle, Biden said the interrogation by the media ‘bugs’ him when we ‘we have serious problem here we’re talking about’.
‘The American people don’t quite understand why you don’t ask me questions about that,’ he added just hours after a poll showed the majority of the country think his handling of Obama administration materials was inappropriate.
Despite his animated reaction he said he would respond, and opened the first page of the binder on his lectern and started to read.
‘Look, as we found a handful of documents that were filed in the wrong place, we immediately turned them over to the archives and the Justice department. We are fully cooperating and looking forward to getting this resolved quickly. I think you’re going to find there’s nothing there.’
‘I have no regrets in following what the lawyers have told me what they want me to do, it’s exactly what we’re doing. There’s no there there.’
President Biden ripped the press when he got a question about whether he regretted not revealing the classified documents from his time as VP had been discovered in his former DC office before the November election
After sitting on the discovery of classified documents at a D.C. think tank for two months, Biden and his administration are now on the attack and trying to bat away questions by insisting they did everything by the book.
A Biden lawyer informed the National Archives of the files found in the Penn Biden Center just days before the November midterms.
But it was only last week that it was first reported by CBS News.
The White House has since been condemned for their lack of transparency and Biden’s handling of files is now being investigated by a Special Counsel.
The president’s suggestion Americans care about other issues was also brought into question by a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday that said 60 percent of Americans think he acted inappropriately.
The majority of the 1,380 American voters asked in the survey, acknowledged the scandal is ‘serious’ and should be investigated, but less than half think it should result in criminal charges.
Just 36 percent approved of the job Biden is doing and 53 percent disapprove.
When a reporter asked if he had any regrets about the sensitive files debacle, Biden said the interrogation by the media ‘bugs’ him when we ‘we have serious problem here we’re talking about’
The attack on the press came after Biden toured the collapsed Capitola Pier near Seacliff State Park in Santa Cruz and met with business owners whose shops were ruined by a series of powerful storms.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who greeted Biden with a smile upon arrival, described the 21 known deaths the state had experienced.
‘We had nine atmospheric rivers, a stacking of stress – this conveyor belt going back 22 days, trillions of gallons of water. The state of California we estimate over 1400 heroic rescues, those lives that were saved didn’t become headlines,’ Newsom said.
He also spoke about the search for a missing five-year-old boy swept away by floodwaters in San Luis Obispo County, prompting a National Guard search.
‘We won’t give up until we find Kyle,’ he said.
Biden also referenced the missing boy.
‘The fact is Jill and it have him in our prayers,’ Biden said.
The two leaders shared camaraderie. Newsom opted out of a run for president in 2024, with Biden expected to announce his own run soon.
At least a few documents were found in Biden’s garage at his Wilmington, Delaware home
President Joe Biden toured storm damage in California along with Governor Gavin Newsom (L) and Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), then tore into the press for asking about his documents
‘We won’t give up until we find Kyle,’ said California Gov. Gavin Newsom, speaking of a missing 5-year-old boy swept away by floodwaters
The pair toured storm-caused at a pier in Capitola
Newsom decided not to run for president in 2024
The White House has declined to release visitor logs from Biden’s lakefront Wilmington, Delaware home (pictured) where he spends most every weekend – and conducted most of the 2020 campaign due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
‘One of the things that I’ve long admired, I think the American people admire, about this President is there are few people with the empathy, the care and compassion that he has. And you see that demonstrated in times like this,’ Newsom said.
‘You and I gotta stop taking these helicopter rides,’ Biden joked at one point, after also giving Newsom a warm smile upon arriving.
‘If anybody doubts climate is changing, then they must have been asleep for the last couple of years,’ Biden said, referencing California’s years of drought, fire, and severe storms.
Earlier, Biden viewed a pile of damaged planks from the Capitola pier.
He met with emergency workers and members of the military, exchanging challenge coins with some. He visited Zelda’s on the Beach, a restaurant with sandbags piled by its beachside exit and construction supplies inside an otherwise bare interior.
He also took an aerial tour of the widespread damage.
The state was hit with nearly 12 inches of rain and snow between Dec. 26 and Jan. 17, with snow piling up in the Sierras.
A series of ‘atmospheric rivers’ – long bands of water vapor – hit in succession. Light rain and dry conditions are expected in the coming days.
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