The Los Angeles Times is denying allegations that it submitted questions to the White House before President Joe Biden’s April 26 press conference, despite a cheat sheet Biden was holding.
“Our reporter did not submit any questions in advance of the Q&A with President Biden,” a spokesperson for the paper told The Epoch Times.
The document also listed a question, appearing to indicate Subramanian had submitted one ahead of time. “How are YOU squaring YOUR domestic priorities—like reshoring semiconductors manufacturing—with alliance-based foreign policy?” said the paper, listing it as “question #1.”
Biden called on Subramanian first. She asked: “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?”
Subramanian covers the White House and “as such, she is in regular contact with the White House press office seeking information for her reporting,” the Los Angeles Times spokesperson said. “You would have to ask the White House who prepared the document for the president and why they included that question.”
“I would let the reporter for Los Angeles Times speak for herself. It is entirely normal for a president to be briefed on reporters who will be asking questions at a press conference and issues that we expect that they might ask about,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters in Washington on Thursday.
Subramanian did not return an inquiry and has not commented on the situation.
Biden responded in part by saying that his desire to increase U.S. manufacturing “is not about China,” adding, “I’m not concerned about China.”
Biden only called on two reporters. The other, ABC News’s Mary Bruce, asked the octogenarian president what he would say to the substantial percentage of Americans who have said in polls they don’t want him to run for reelection. It wasn’t clear whether Biden planned to call on Bruce ahead of time.
“The reason I’m running again is there’s a job to finish,” Biden said. He said he thinks he would still be running even if former President Donald Trump had not launched a 2024 bid.
Biden has said in the past that aides have directed him to only call on certain reporters. He has occasionally called on reporters from The Epoch Times and the paper’s sister media NTD. The president has also held cheat sheets in the past, including in March 2022 when he held a document that had possible questions regarding the Russia–Ukraine war.
