GOP Sen John Cornyn Slams Biden for ‘Scripted’ Comments: ‘Is He Really in Charge?’
Cornyn #Cornyn
Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, complained on Monday that President Joe Biden’s comments are “largely scripted” and that he doesn’t tweet enough, questioning whether the commander-in-chief is actually “in charge.”
During Biden’s presidential campaign, he promised that Americans would see a drastic change from former President Donald Trump’s constant Twitter commentary and controversial remarks if he was elected. But Republicans have repeatedly attacked the new president for being less available to the press than his predecessor, pushing the narrative that he is not running the show in the White House.
“The president is not doing cable news interviews. Tweets from his account are limited and, when they come, unimaginably conventional. The public comments are largely scripted. Biden has opted for fewer sit down interviews with mainstream outlets and reporters,” Cornyn tweeted Monday morning, quoting a paragraph from a Politico article reporting on the Biden administration’s starkly different communication strategy.
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Cornyn followed up, writing: “Invites the question: is he really in charge?”
Trump’s presidency was largely defined by a constant stream of controversial tweets and brash remarks that often played up political divisions across the country. The Biden administration has taken a decidedly different approach, with the president often appearing to take a back seat when it comes to communicating his agenda and policy decisions.
Instead, Cabinet members and other top White House officials have regularly appeared before the press and on television to communicate with journalists and the American people. While the strategy is different than that of Trump, it’s not a shift that the White House is attempting to downplay.
“Our communications strategy is based on innovation in the digital space, flooding the zone in regional and coalitions press, and effectively using traditional national media. He’s the president, he’s got a lot on his plate. We have people fanning out every single day across different media to amplify his message,” deputy communications director Kate Berner told Politico for the article quoted by Cornyn.
“We don’t let his schedule be a limiting factor for us. We use the Cabinet, they’re experts in their field. They also have audiences that they can uniquely speak to,” Berner said.
Some on social media quickly mocked Cornyn’s criticism.
“But, by the way, he is doing cable news interviews, and he is answering questions from reporters. This is just an insane attack,” Singer added.
Sarah Longwell, a GOP strategist who founded Republican Voters Against Trump and Republicans for the Rule of Law, called out Cornyn’s comments, as well.
“Making meandering calls into Fox and Friends and rage tweeting at all hours is how you demonstrate you’re truly running the country, per John Cornyn,” Longwell tweeted.
Matthew Dowd, a former GOP consultant who now identifies as an independent, slammed Cornyn in a Twitter response.
“Lord have mercy. You would think you would lauding Biden for this. So you are criticizing him for actually spending time on his actual job? Maybe you could consider doing that,” Dowd wrote.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment.
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