AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
Joe Biden and the amateurs leading his communications team have shown once again that the adults are definitely not back in the room — after a Philadelphia radio host revealed that she was handed pre-approved questions to ask the president ahead of a recent interview.
WURD host Andrea Lawful-Sanders told CNN over the weekend that she used several of the White House-scripted queries, including laughable ones on Biden’s “accomplishments” and his alleged progress in critical swing states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, during her Wednesday exclusive with the president.
Less than 24 hours after she disclosed the truth, she was fired.
Station management said the axe fell because Lawford-Sanders had “violated its practice of being an independent media outlet.”
But if that was the case, why was this interview even allowed to go forward? Management had to know of the White House intervention, given that this was probably the biggest interview the station’s ever had.
Much more likely that Lawful-Sanders was fired for sharing the White House meddling publicly, essentially making herself a whistleblower.
The fact is, this practice has been going on for years between Biden’s handlers and multiple media outlets. The only question is to what extent.
Remember all the times Biden has stated before press conferences that he had “a list” of pre-determined reporters to call on?
Remember how often Biden has said the quiet part out loud, claiming he “was gonna get in trouble” if he answered questions from anyone outside of that list?
Just last year, Biden was caught using a flash card featuring a photo of Courtney Subramanian of The Los Angeles Times during a Rose Garden press conference.
Subramanian asked the same question that appeared on the presidential cheat sheet that bore her name (also spelled phonetically).
And her question wasn’t exactly an obvious one; it concerned “rules against expanding chip manufacturing in China.”
Biden’s answer was uncharacteristically crisp. Almost as if he was . . . prepped for just that question.
Because let’s face it, he was.
For its part, The LA Times denied any wrongdoing.
Of course it did.
This time around, Biden was anything but crisp during his interview with WURD, at one point declaring that he was “proud” to be “the first black woman to serve with a black president.”
Just another harmless gaffe, right?
It’s all such a bad look for the commander-in-chief.
His handlers have been so petrified of him speaking without a teleprompter that they’re reduced to applying scripts to what are supposed to be unscripted moments.
And the big guy still screws it up.
It’s not just that it shows to what degree he’s cloaking his incompetence.
It confirms what many on the right have long suspected: Biden’s steep mental decline has been hidden from the public for years — and his disastrous debate made that too obvious to hide.
So the questions for the media are: How many other times has this occurred, with how many other reporters?
And will any more hosts or journalists come forward to tell us so — or are they too petrified they’ll be out of their jobs as well?
On Monday, Biden joined the friendly confines of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
One would think Biden would appear on camera, but nope: This was a phone interview.
Many of his answers sounded like he was reading off a page. At one point, Biden could be heard shuffling papers.
We’re just 17 weeks from Election Day.
But no one is talking about the issues that matter most to the American people.
No one is talking about Trump, who has been masterfully disciplined in letting Biden sink himself, refraining from stepping on the news cycle.
Instead, all anyone is talking about is Biden’s mental acuity, or lack thereof.
These interviews, either on tape or by phone, are not helping change the perception that this president is too far gone for the job now, let alone for the next 4½ years.
Know this: If the election were held today, Donald Trump would become your president once again.
Joe Concha is a Fox News contributor and bestselling author.