Biden snaps and lectures the PRESS for asking questions off topic as signs deal with Zelensky that will keep the US supporting Ukraine for 10 years

President Joe Biden snapped at a reporter for failing to ‘play by the rules’ at a press conference Thursday when he asked about a stalled cease fire deal for the war in Gaza instead of Ukraine.

Biden lashed out a reporter for Bloomberg News who asked him about Gaza, even while he was touting a 10-year U.S. security commitment to Ukraine alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. 

‘I wish you guys would play by the rules a little bit,’ Biden harrumphed.

There is no such agreement by the media to stay on a certain topic at press conferences. 

‘I’m here to talk about a crit situation in Ukraine you’re asking me about another subject,’ Biden complained.

The war in Gaza is a top issue among the U.S. and key allies, and it has come up repeatedly during White House press briefings, including one earlier Thursday.

Biden may have been sore at the previous reporter, who asked him about his son Hunter being found guilty by a Delaware jury in a federal court on a gun charger.  

But even that question was phrased as an inquiry about addition and struggle in his family, rather than about the most unseemly aspects of the trial. 

Biden’s answer indicated it wasn’t a lack of fluency in the issue that forced him to vent. 

He noted correctly that the latest plan for a phased ceasefire was backed by the UN Security Council and the G7.

‘The biggest hangup so far is Hamas refusing to sign on even though they have submitted something similar,’ he said.

The main ‘rule’ for the presser that the media did comply with was a ‘two and two’ format where each side’s media got two questions, from the U.S. and Ukraine. 

Biden routinely chides reporters who ask multi-part questions as a way to get around the strict limitation.

Despite Biden’s grumbling, the structure of the event was established to suit his interests. It didn’t descent into a free-for-all. 

He faced a single question about Hunter’s historic trial during the event.

There were shouted follow-up questions in the end, and Biden gave a single-word answer, that ‘no’ he would not commute his son’s sentence. (He has said previously and said again Thursday he would not pardon him).

 There are a new mores that the White House has deployed that clash with the rules and decorum of press events in the past. One is the use of blaring music at the conclusion of the event, which has the effect of preventing a series of shouted questions from being captured on video while the president exits.