White House Forced to Issue Clarification on Gesture Biden Made in Opening Seconds of Putin Meeting
The White House quickly issued a clarification that President Joe Biden’s answer to a reporter’s question Wednesday in Geneva was not what it seemed.
Prior to Biden’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Switzerland, the two leaders appeared together for a brief and chaotic photo opportunity, according to The Associated Press.
When a reporter asked if Putin could be trusted, Biden appeared to nod in agreement.
“Inside, a pooler shouted Mr. President, do you trust Putin? Biden nodded yes up and down,” CBS News reporter Kathryn Watson tweeted, quoting the print pool.
Hmmm.
Print pool: “Inside, a pooler shouted Mr. President, do you trust Putin? Biden nodded yes up and down. Another pooler asked Putin if he feared Navalny and what he would do if Ukraine joined NATO. He looked up and did not respond.”
— Kathryn Watson (@kathrynw5) June 16, 2021
Political reporter Yamiche Alcindor added that it appeared that Biden “looked directly at the reporter and nodded affirmatively.”
Reporter to President Biden: Do you trust Putin? Do you trust each other?
President Biden looked directly at the reporter and nodded affirmatively.
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) June 16, 2021
The White House communications staff moved quickly to claim the president wasn’t answering the Putin question but was just giving “a general head nod in the direction of the media.”
“During a chaotic free for all with members of the press shouting questions over each other, the President gave a general head nod in the direction of the media,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told Alcindor.
“He wasn’t responding to any question or anything other than the chaos.”
From WH Pool on nod: @PressSec statement: “During a chaotic free for all with members of the press shouting questions over each other, the President gave a general head nod in the direction of the media. He wasn’t responding to any question or anything other than the chaos.”
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) June 16, 2021
White House Communications Director Kate Beddingfield offered a similar explanation, adding that two days ago Biden said “verify, then trust” in relation to Putin.
It was a chaotic scrum with reporters shouting over each other. @POTUS was very clearly not responding to any one question, but nodding in acknowledgment to the press generally. He said just two days ago in his presser: “verify, then trust.” https://t.co/5C9gP4XTtO
— Kate Bedingfield (@WHCommsDir) June 16, 2021
Biden has previously called Putin a “killer” and has claimed that as vice president a decade ago he looked into Putin’s eyes and told him he was missing a “soul.”
Journalists and security officers were shoving to get into the small room Wednesday, creating a bit of chaos prior to the meeting, according to the AP.
Putin ignored questions that were shouted at him from reporters, including one that asked him about jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the outlet reported.
Biden and Putin were expected to talk for four to five hours about a series of topics, including cybercrime and Russia’s alleged interference in U.S. elections.
The president told his Russian counterpart that “it is always better to meet face to face,” and Putin expressed hope that the talks would be “productive.”
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