Over the last few months, a small feud has been brewing between members of the Biden administration and the New York Times.

That feud got kicked up a notch this week after the Times blasted Biden for avoiding tough interviews and doing cupcakes with comedians and late-night TV hosts.

Talking Points…
- Harris confronted by NYT publisher
- Times goes on the attack
- Analysis

Harris Confronted by New York Times Publisher

This feud between the Biden administration and the New York Times has been brewing for quite a while. This more or less got started because Biden avoided the White House press corps and did softball interviews with networks like Comedy Central, The Weather Channel, and the late-night TV circuit while avoiding hard-hitting interviews with the real journalists on the Hill.

This led to a confrontation between New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger and Kamala Harris last year in May. Harris had gone to the New York Times for an "off the record" meeting with reporters, which is bothersome in and of itself. Harris was clearly trying to influence the media on how to report on the White House, which did not sit well with the New York Times. Harris left the meeting muttering under her breath and calling it a complete waste of time.

A reporter for the Times offered some context on the meeting, stating:

"All these Biden people think that the problem is Peter Baker [a NYT White House reporter] or whatever reporter they’re mad at that day.

"It’s A.G. He’s the one who is pissed [that] Biden hasn’t done any interviews and quietly encourages all the tough reporting on his age."

New York Times Goes on the Attack

This avoidance of the media is a boiling pot at this point, and it is close to spilling over on the stove. The Times, a publication that once covered for Biden on every front, is now in full-out attack mode, stating:

"Biden has granted far fewer press conferences and sit down interviews with independent journalists than virtually all of his predecessors. It is true that The Times has sought an on-the-record interview with President Biden, as it has done with all presidents going back more than a century.

"If the President chooses not to sit down with The Times because he dislikes our independent coverage, that is his right, and we will continue to cover him fully and fairly either way."

The New York Times later confirmed the meeting and confrontation with Harris, adding:

"In meetings with the Vice President and other administration officials, the publisher of The Times has focused instead on a higher principle: That systematically avoiding interviews and questions from major news organizations doesn’t just undermine an important norm, it establishes a dangerous precedent that future Presidents can use to avoid scrutiny and accountability.

"That is why Mr. Sulzberger has repeatedly urged the White House to have the president sit down with the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, CNN and other major independent news organizations that millions of Americans rely on to understand their government. Finally, the notion that any line of coverage has been ordered up or encouraged in retaliation for declining an interview, or any other reason, is outrageous and untrue."

Analysis

First, I want to address the idea of a vice president going to the headquarters of a major media outlet to dictate what type of coverage they do. This is the complete opposite of the narrative the White House keeps spewing about a free press. That visit is literally what you see happen in communist countries, where the government dictates what state-run media can and cannot say.

On a different note, the Times making this feud public is not good for Biden or his hopes of being re-elected. As we all know, the media has covered for Biden from the first day he was announced, but that is now starting to change. We have gone from the media ignoring investigations and the fact that Biden abandoned Americans behind enemy lines to a public feud, calling out Biden for doing cupcake interviews instead of facing the real media.

If the media even comes close to covering Biden fairly, it will be the end of this administration. Of that I have no doubt.