Journalists often complained they had too few opportunities to meet with President Biden during his time in the White House.
His own communications office was mostly shut out, too.
Andrew Bates, who served as Mr. Biden’s senior deputy press secretary, told House investigators on Friday that the president met with his communications team just twice a year.
Mr. Bates said he personally saw Mr. Biden about once a month, which could include running into him in the hallway.
Mr. Bates made the revelations in a closed-door interview with House lawmakers investigating Mr. Biden’s use of the autopen and whether he suffered cognitive decline that left staffers running the country.
It’s a charge Mr. Biden vehemently denies, and his aides are sticking by him.
SEE ALSO: Checked out: Biden staff scrambled to make thousands of pardons look presidential
In a prepared statement, Mr. Bates lashed out at Republican lawmakers who are running the probe, calling on them to turn their attention to President Trump’s “illegal tariffs” and an “illegal” move to try to commandeer the Federal Reserve, among other perceived misdeeds.
Mr. Bates is among a string of witnesses from the Biden White House who have been summoned to provide testimony about Mr. Biden’s alleged cognitive decline while president.
A person familiar with his interview said that Mr. Bates said questions about Mr. Biden’s mental acuity were “overblown” and were stirred up by the media and right-wing operatives. He also defended Mr. Biden’s disastrous debate performance, including his statement, “We finally beat Medicare,” which left the audience dumbfounded. Mr. Bates suggested Mr. Biden simply meant, “We finally beat Big Pharma,” which is a line the president has used in the past.
Mr. Biden, 82, could have won reelection if he remained in the race, Mr. Bates told lawmakers.
Mr. Biden’s lack of media engagement was a sore subject among Washington media.
He held far fewer formal press conferences than any of his six predecessors, according to statistics, although his administration pointed to his willingness to engage in informal question-and-answer sessions with the media.
