During an information segment with CNN, radio host Andrea Lawful-Sanders said the president’s crew gave a list of questions for approval before she interviewed him.
CNN host Victor Blackwell said Saturday he listened to both interviews and said the questions were “essentially the same” in both. Biden spoke to Sanders who hosts “The Source” on WURD in Philadelphia, and Earl Ingram, who hosts “The Earl Ingram Show” on WMCS in Milwaukee.
“The questions were sent to me for approval. I approved them,” Sanders said. Blackwell noted the questions during both appearances were about his accomplishments, debate performance, progress in both Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, what’s at stake in the election, and what he would say to voters who are considering not voting in the presidential election.
Blackwell followed up, “So the White House sent the questions to you ahead of the interview?”
“Yes, I got several questions, eight of them, and the four that were chosen were the ones that I approved,” Sanders continued.
“It’s not at all an uncommon practice for interviewees to share topics they would prefer. These questions were relevant to news of the day – the president was asked about this debate performance as well as what he’d delivered for black Americans. We do not condition interviews on acceptance of these questions, and hosts are always free to ask the questions they think will best inform their listeners. In addition to these interviews, the President also participated in a press gaggle yesterday as well as an interview with ABC. Americans have had several opportunities to see him unscripted since the debate,” Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said.
Blackwell added that Biden’s team was not doing the president a favor by showing his “vigor” by providing questions in advance.
“And the reason I ask is not a criticism of either of you, it’s just that if the White House is trying now to prove the vim, vigor, acuity of the president. I don‘t know how they do that by sending questions first before the interview so that the president knows what‘s coming,” Blackwell said.
However, in an interview with the Washington Post, Sanders said she never felt pressured to ask specific questions.
“When I was asked to do this interview it was most important to me to have the voices of the Black people heard. I never once felt pressured to ask certain questions,” Sanders said. “I chose questions that were most important to the black and brown communities we serve in … Philadelphia. Those questions proved to be exactly what black and brown communities desired.”
Blackwell also shared a clip of Sanders interviewing Biden, at which point he was asked about his record.
“I’m proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, the first Black woman, to serve with a Black president,” Biden said during the interview.
“If you listen to these interviews, it is abundantly clear what the president meant. This would be considered a perfectly normal speech pattern for any other person in America, and has certainly been normal for Joe Biden for his entire career,” a campaign official told a news source.
“This morning, for 2 hours, my phone lines were completely jammed as we had the conversation and the debate on whether or not this is something that should occur. And I can tell you that the majority of the listening audience thought that we should leave it as it is and it’s a big mistake for the Democratic Party to attempt to force this on them as well as Joe Biden,” Ingram said.
Biden also sat down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Friday, and reached viewers at home to declare that he was remaining in the race.
Biden still faces questions about whether he should be in the race after last week’s CNN debate.
