While Joe Biden’s inability to remember his lines and his general weakness are the big stories of his summit with Putin, the press are melting down over something else.

Apparently, media access was not only extremely limited to a few shouted questions at the beginning, but security then stepped in to get a little handsy with the press corps. And for the first time during his presidency, they found a reason to somewhat chastise Biden.

Here’s the harrowing or hilarious account, whichever you prefer.

More on the press chaos at the Putin/Biden summit via @anitakumar01 pic.twitter.com/VCeops8vt1

— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) June 16, 2021

Scene from the fracas earlier at the Biden-Putin summit here in Geneva, with Russian security forces pushing me out while President Biden looks on

Photo: @b_smialowski pic.twitter.com/STkXXXhvU6

— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) June 16, 2021

Apparently, Russian security guards started to rough up the press in an effort to remove them from the area (I’m sure they are being overly dramatic, but you get the idea) and Joe Biden could only muster a giggle over it. He didn’t step in and put a stop to it, likely because he didn’t know where he was and it wasn’t written for him to do on his notecards.

I must say, that’s quite the betrayal given how subservient and slavish the press have been over Biden and every aspect of his presidency. This is a news media that literally worships at his feet, spending all week spinning tails about how Biden is going to stand up to Putin and lay down the law. When given the chance to interject on something as simple as not mistreating the press, Biden just laughs at them. Yeah, that’s gotta sting.

This comes after Biden made the press wait for almost three hours a few days ago to give a 20-minute press conference where he called on pre-selected (likely pre-screened) reporters to field softball questions about Republicans. He has no respect for these reporters, and he’s not afraid to let them know it.

Of course, I’m under no illusions. The press won’t learn any lessons here. They’ll simply say, “Sir, may I have another?” the next time Biden abuses them. They are so ridiculously in the tank that they can’t even muster real criticism in the face of the president kowtowing to Putin’s demands, lifting sanctions, and greenlighting the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Trump was lambasted as a Russian stooge for four years, but Biden is showing that he’s truly the one with a soft spot for Putin. Will the press call him on it? Nah, they won’t. Instead, we’ll get more glowing profiles in courage.

In the end, I’m going to have to go with hilarious in regards to what I feel about this entire drama. The press had a chance to be independent and hold those in power to account. Instead, they bowed at Biden’s feet, rushing to do his bidding at every turn. Now, they are getting treated with all the respect they showed their own profession. You hate to see it.