President Joe Biden 'Clashes' With White House Staffers About Going Off-Script During Speeches: Report
Jan. 3 2024, Published 1:10 p.m. ET
President Joe Biden clashes with White House staffers about going off-script during his speeches, a new report from Reuters revealed.
In the article, it noted how the 81-year-old, who typically relies on teleprompters while addressing the nation or in political speeches, has gone off the cuff in recent months, which has been tough on his staffers.
"Biden's open-mic disclosures are clashing with the White House system built to keep him on script," the article states. "The comments sometimes baffle, rankle, or worry his aides, who are forced to explain or contradict them later."
The staffers are then left to pick up the pieces, and they sometimes "struggle to shift attention back to the administration's message of the day" or explain why some of Biden's comments appear to be "at odds with official U.S. policy."
Biden's speeches have made headlines in the past few months.
As OK! previously reported, he appeared to read his teleprompter instructions during his speech from the Oval Office on Thursday, October 19, 2023.
During the speech, he spoke about the ongoing war between Israel and the terror group Hamas, which first launched an attack on the Jewish state on October 7, 2023.
Biden then said "make it clear," likely reading an instruction from the teleprompter, similar to how he did last year when he said "repeat the line" in a different speech.
“We’ll have something that we do not seek — make it clear we do not seek — we do not seek to have American troops fighting in Russia,” he said.
"You'll all America," he said before clarifying, "You're all American."
In 2022, when speaking about the reversal of Roe v. Wade, he said, "It is noteworthy that the percentage of women who registered to vote and cast a ballot is consistently higher than the percentage of the men who do so. End of quote."
"Repeat the line,” he added at the time.
Never miss a story — sign up for the OK! newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what OK! has to offer. It’s gossip too good to wait for!
Though people are nervous for Biden to be in the White House again, in September 2023, he fired back at critics who think he's not all there mentally.
“I tell you what, someone said, ‘You know what? That Biden, he’s getting old, man. I tell you what,'” Biden said to members of the Sheet Metal Workers union on Monday, September 4, 2023. “Well, guess what? Guess what? You know, the only thing that comes with age is a little bit of wisdom. I’ve been doing this longer than anybody, and guess what? I’m going to continue to do it, with your help.”