Though there were many wild and eye-opening moments during President Biden’s press conference Wednesday, perhaps none of them were quite as bizarre as the exchange that occurred between Biden and RealClearNews reporter Philip Wegmann.
As we reported, when Wegmann was called on to ask Biden some questions after the speech he gave, something he asked about were the remarks Biden made at that Georgia rally last week where he compared his political opponents to notable Democrat racists from the past like Bull Connor, George Wallace, and Jefferson Davis.
“You know, you campaigned and you ran on a return to civility,” Wegmann began. “And I know that you dispute the characterization that you called folks who would oppose those voting bills as being ‘Bull Connor’ or ‘George Wallace,’ but you said that they would be sort of in the same camp.”
Wegmann wasn’t finished asking his question before Biden flipped out, denying he put Republicans as well as Democrat Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema in the “same camp” as Connor and all the rest – before doing it again:
Biden blows up at @PhilipWegmann for saying he put those who oppose his voting bill in the same camp as George Wallace and Bull Connor. Biden then proceeds to put those who oppose his voting bill in the same camp as George Wallace and Bull Connor. pic.twitter.com/QOJSEBtsV1
— Mike (@Doranimated) January 20, 2022
Though some may be intimidated into silence after being addressed by the POTUS in such a way, Wegmann has taken exactly the opposite approach, pointing out that multiple news outlets correctly reported on Biden’s Georgia rant, not just his:
The New York Times—the paper of record—previously wrote of the Bull Conner reference that Biden “left no doubt he has reached a breaking point …lashing out at the holdouts in the Senate and comparing them to some of the country’s most infamous racists.” https://t.co/ikjqQKYQOD
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) January 20, 2022
And this exchange:
CNN: Aren't there "legitimate reasons" a senator might object to filibuster changes w/out saying Sinema or Manchin "are like Bull Connor or Jefferson Davis?"
Sen Durbin: "Perhaps the president went a little too far in his rhetoric.."https://t.co/GvNp2eCOVj
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) January 20, 2022
And after White House press secretary Jen Psaki tried to gaslight the American people both on her Twitter feed and on Fox News this morning about what Biden said, Wegmann pushed back on that, too, noting that “The president told me yesterday that the 2022 midterms ‘easily could be illegitimate.’ He added also ‘I’m not going to say it’s going to be legit.'”
Wegmann’s boss, RCP president and co-founder Tom Bevan, also got in on the action, tweeting in response to Psaki’s statements that “This should be flagged as misinformation. RCP’s own Philip Wegmann gave Biden a chance to clarify his initial refusal to say the midterms would be free & fair.” He then included a transcript of their back and forth.
Instead of backing down and crying “uncle,” as the Washington Post recently did after getting criticized by the Biden White House over a critical report, RCP is instead bringing the receipts and in the process is helping further expose yet another Biden administration lie. This is how it’s done, folks.
Related: Associated Press Shines Uncomfortable Spotlight on Joe Biden’s Media Access Problems
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