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President Joe Biden surprised reporters on Friday when he joined a White House press briefing for the first time in his presidency.
Biden usually sticks to scripted speeches and press conferences with the rare Oval Office address. His first televised interview was in July following a widely-panned debate performance that gave momentum to calls for him to drop his reelection bid. (He withdrew his candidacy on July 21.) While Biden does take reporters' questions at press conferences and when he sees them on the road, Friday was the first time he took the podium at a White House press briefing.
Reporters could be heard audibly gasping as Biden entered the room as shown in videos posted on social media. When he got up to the podium he jokingly said, "My name's Joe Biden."
Newsweek reached out to the White House via email for comment late Friday afternoon.
During the appearance, Biden spoke about the "incredible" jobs report released by the Labor Department on Friday.
The U.S. labor market surged in September, adding a robust 254,000 jobs that far exceeded expectations. At the same time, the unemployment rate fell for the second consecutive month, dropping from 4.2 percent and 4.1 percent.
The president pointed to those who have been critical of his administration's economic policies, saying, "We've proven them wrong," but acknowledging that there is "more work to do."
He also spoke about Hurricane Helene, which devastated the East Coast, especially North Carolina, and said he would probably have to ask Congress for more money for recovery efforts. According to a White House statement from Wednesday, over $10 million has been provided to survivors of Hurricane Helene.
Additionally, Biden thanked his White House team for working "around the clock" to keep the East Coast and Gulf Coast ports open after dock workers and port operators went on strike earlier this week. The workers reached a tentative agreement on wages with their employers on Thursday.
Biden then took questions from reporters, one of which asked about Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican and ally to former President Donald Trump, claiming that the jobs report had fake numbers.
"Anything the MAGA [Make America Great Again] Republicans don't like, they call fake," Biden responded. "The job numbers are what the job numbers are."
Biden was also asked to clarify his comments yesterday when he said the White House was "discussing" if they would support Israel targeting Iran's oil facilities, which caused oil prices to surge. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran would "pay" for the barrage of strikes launched at Israel on Tuesday.
"The Israelis have not concluded what they're going to do in terms of a strike. That's under discussion. If I were in their shoes, I'd be thinking about other alternatives than striking oil fields," the president replied.
Biden was also asked about November's election between Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.
"Do you have confidence that it will be a free and fair election, and that it will be peaceful?" one reporter asked.
Biden said he is "confident it will be free and fair," but said "I don't know whether it will be peaceful. The things that Trump has said and the things that he said last time out when he didn't like the outcome of the election were very dangerous."
When Trump lost the 2020 election to Biden, he repeatedly claimed the election was stolen from him via widespread voter fraud despite there being no evidence of this. Trump continues to claim he was the actual victor of the 2020 election and claims the federal and Georgia cases against him for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 election results are politically motivated. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre later took the podium and acknowledged it was the first time Biden had appeared in the briefing room, saying "You're welcome" when questioned about the president's appearance after he left the room.
The reporter then probed: "Why didn't he come in the three-and-a-half years before?"
"I mean he came today," Jean-Pierre said. "You got to see him."
Update 10/4/24 4:08 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
About the writer
Rachel Dobkin is a Newsweek reporter based in New York. Her focus is reporting on politics. Rachel joined Newsweek in ... Read more