Since the start of the Wuhan virus pandemic during his 2020 presidential campaign, Joe Biden‘s handlers have had a press avoidance strategy in place that they’ve done their level best to work to their advantage — except for all the times Biden has sidestepped them by going off script, which in turn seemingly confirms his critics’ worst fears about his state of mind and physical fitness to lead the country.

But for the last couple of weeks or so, they’ve taken that strategy to the next level in light of allegations against Biden and his son, Hunter, involving alleged bribery and corruption at the highest levels, something we learned more about thanks in part to information that was shared by whistleblowers in recent weeks.

Even more interestingly, the mostly Biden-compliant media – which up until this year typically tried to bury or dismiss stories about Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings as irrelevant – have noticed Joe Biden’s absence and have been pressing White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre for answers.

Two underreported moments from Thursday’s press briefing tell the story.

First, there was curiosity among several in the press corps as to why Biden was not holding a joint press conference with Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who visited the White House Thursday. One reporter pointed out that traditionally joint pressers are held when the Italian PM (and others) are there to meet with whoever the President happens to be. When asked about it, KJP dodged and weaved:

“Today Prime Minister Meloni is coming to the sticks, she’s having a press conference at the Italian embassy, so it appears that it is the US that does not want to have a joint press conference. Is that true? And if it’s not, why aren’t you having one?” asked CBS reporter Weijia Jiang.

“I would not say that is true,” Jean-Pierre said, before adding, “I was not part of the deliberation on this with our National Security Council … I have not asked the National Security Council on this on how those conversations went … you would have to really speak to the prime minister on how they are proceeding.”

[…]

Catherine Lucey of the Wall Street Journal later pointed out that Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump had honored their Italian counterparts with a joint press conference and asked, “Is there something different here with this particular prime minister?”

“Nope, nothing different here,” Jean-Pierre maintained. “Again, when we do these bilateral visits … there’s a diplomatic conversation that happens … and a decision is made.”

Watch:

Why is it so difficult for Karine Jean-Pierre to explain why Biden isn't holding a press conference with the visiting Italian prime minister? pic.twitter.com/tJznD8bBbj

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 27, 2023

Later in during the press briefing, another reporter practically begged Jean-Pierre to bring Biden into the briefing room “for 45 minutes” in order to put to bed questions about his health. KJP’s answer? Something that had nothing to do with what was asked:

Reporter: And then, finally, just a — as far as the questions about the President’s health, I think that would be all cleared up if — once again, if we could just ask him to step out of that door into this — into this room for 45 minutes. And so, I ask you, again, to pass that along to him, to ask him to come out and see us.

KJP: I appreciate the request. Thank you for the request. The President, as you know — you know, again, I — I appreciate the question, and I get it, and the President understands. You guys want to ask him questions and have the opportunity for him to answer your questions. I do want to say: This is a president that has done more in the first two years — two and a half years when it comes to the economy…

Watch:

“Ask him to step out of that door into this room for 45 minutes!” — Reporters press WH Press Sec for Biden to give press conference pic.twitter.com/tj02oqG85V

— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) July 28, 2023

On Wednesday, the same day Hunter Biden appeared at a Delaware courthouse, Jean-Pierre was also called out by members of the media for her laughable suggestion that Joe Biden was “very busy” despite the fact that he literally had nothing on his public schedule that day other than him receiving the daily presidential briefing.

Clearly, Joe Biden wants to avoid the subject of his son altogether, but one of the biggest questions of all remains: If you’ve got nothing to hide – as Biden has said in so many words before, why not answer some questions? The only answer I can come up with is that even though he is being very ill-served by the people who speak on his behalf, the Biden White House knows that if Biden himself opens his mouth on the subject, it will remove all doubt about his own alleged role related to his son’s business affairs.

Related: Joe Biden Blows off Important NATO Dinner, White House’s Explanation Doesn’t Cut It