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Photographs of President Joe Biden’s notes during a press conference with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday appeared to suggest that he had advance notice of a press question from the Los Angeles Times.
Under the caption “Question #1,” Biden’s notes clearly displayed the name, pronunciation, and portrait of Los Angeles Times White House reporter Courtney Subramanian, along with a general summary of her yet-t0-be-asked question about “reshoring semiconductor manufacturing.”
Sure enough, Subramanian was the first reporter to be called upon and she went on to ask Biden a question about semiconductor manufacturing as the notes suggested.
“Your top economic priority has been to build up US domestic manufacturing in competition with China but your rules against expanding chip manufacturing in China is hurting South Korean companies that rely heavily on Beijing. Are you damaging a key ally in the competition with China to help your domestic politics ahead of the election?” the reporter asked.
Biden replied that his primary goal was to increase semiconductor manufacturing in the United States, pointing out that the semiconductor was invented in the US and that America “used to have 40 percent of the market” before the process was off-shored. Biden argued that his manufacturing goal had nothing to do with China and remarked, “I’m not concerned about China.”
The seeming revelation that Biden had prior knowledge to the questions he would be asked sparked controversy on social media, and both Subramanian and the Los Angeles Times became inundated with calls to clarify whether the question was pre-approved by Biden.
It wasn’t the first time that Biden’s notes were caught on camera. In June 2022, Biden was photographed holding instructions telling him what to do during a press conference at the White House. “YOU enter the Roosevelt Room and say hello to participants. YOU take YOUR seat. Press enters. YOU give brief comments (2 minutes),” the instructions read, prompting critics to ridicule the president.
In July 2020, Biden’s notes about the pros of his 2020 presidential campaign running mate Kamala Harris were also photographed during a press conference.
