Étiquettes

,

A White House official tells Fox News such notes are a longstanding practice for politicians

By Joseph A. Wulfsohn | Fox News

On Thursday, Biden made remarks during a « Meeting on Federal State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership » where he had a binder with talking points and was handed a chart showing how tall the offshore wind turbines being discussed are compared to landmarks like the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower. 

Later on, he held up a separate note card and was reading off of one side of it.

However, the other side of the note card facing the cameras had a list of directions for the president. 

US President Joe Biden speaks while meeting with governors, labor leaders, and private companies launching the Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., US, on Thursday, June 23, 2022. Photographer: Shawn Thew/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images

« YOU enter the Roosevelt Room and say hello to participants, » the first bullet point read. « YOU take YOUR seat. »

After a bullet point that said, « Press enters, » the next one read, « YOU give brief comments, » with a parenthetical statement reading, « 2 minutes. » Biden ended up speaking for roughly eight minutes. 

Once when the « Press departs, » Biden was then told, « YOU ask Liz Shuler, President, AFL-CIO, a question, » with a note that Shuler was « joining virtually. »

The final bullet points read, « YOU thank participants » and « YOU depart. »

US President Joe Biden speaks from his notes with governors, labor leaders, and private companies launching the Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership as he drops by a meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, on June 23, 2022. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

A White House official tells Fox News that this is a very standard format used by politicians and government officials at public events. 

Hannah Hankins, a former White House communications official for then-President Obama told Fox News he too used a similar format of notes during his presidency.

This isn’t the first time Biden’s notes have gone viral. In March, he was seen holding a card reading, « Tough Putin Q&A Talking Points » during a news briefing about the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

During an event last July, the president was handed a note reading, « Sir, there is something on your chin. »

WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 23: U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting about the Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership in the Roosevelt Room of the White House June 23, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Biden isn’t the first president to have notes draw media attention. In 2018, President Trump was seen holding handwritten notes which included prepared responses like « I hear you » during a listening session at the White House with families of Parkland victims following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Trump also had handwritten notes go viral that read, « I want no quid pro quo, » during his first impeachment trial in 2019. 

Fox News