‘Cowardice’: Republicans Criticise Biden for Not Taking Questions from Media on Bank Collapse

Republicans and critics of US President Joe Biden lashed out at him for walking away from reporters without answering their questions after he read out his statement on the collapse of two major American banks over the weekend on Monday.

While the President addressed the sudden failure of both Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in California on Friday and Signature Bank in New York, he left the press conference within five minutes, ignoring questions from reporters.

One reporter asked: “What do you know right now about why this happened? Can you assure Americans that there won’t be a ripple effect?”

Another reporter chimed in: “Do you expect other banks to fail?”

However, Biden quickly left the press conference without answering the question.

RNC Research, a Twitter account managed by the Republican National Committee (RNC), tweeted the clip and posted a script as the caption. The Republican Party’s Idaho wing tweeted “Cowardice” in response to the clip.

The clip has amassed over 4.9 million views.

Keen-eyed observers pointed out that the clip of the press conference has been uploaded on YouTube with the comment section turned off.

“The second largest bank collapse in US history occurred and Joe Biden can’t answer any questions about it. Unreal,” Marsha Blackburn, Republican senator from Tennessee, tweeted.

Conservative-leaning podcaster Monica Crowley said Biden’s speech was “meaningless”. “Biden speaking meaninglessly for like 2 minutes on the bank collapses and then bolting without taking questions is peak Biden twaddle,” Crowley said, according to Fox News.

Stephen Miller, who is a contributing editor for right-leaning magazine the Spectator, sarcastically pointed out that the camerawork was amazing while responding to the press conference.

“Amazing how the camera just pans back to an empty podium after the old man shuffles himself right out of the room,” Miller said. He also called him a part-time president. “The guy is a part time president. 3 days a week giving a 5 minute statement and then back off to Delaware,” Miller further added.

Biden’s habit of leaving press conferences without taking questions from the press or even after major events has been criticised. The US President touted gains made by the economy during his press conference in a bid to eclipse the criticism his administration faced due to collapse of both banks.

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