President Joe Biden recently addressed the horrific attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, offering his condolences to those impacted by the violence and outlining his efforts in directing resources to the ongoing investigation. However, some criticized the president for refusing to take any questions when addressing the nation, immediately walking out of the press room following the conclusion of his remarks.
Wrapping up his statement on the attack from Camp David, Maryland, the president said, “May God bless people in New Orleans. May our God bless our police and our first responders, may God protect our troops and will keep you fully contemporaneously informed. Thank you.” Biden immediately headed for the door, ignoring reporters who eagerly shouted questions at him.
The popular conservative X account, Resist the Mainstream, wrote, “UNREAL: President Biden walks out of the press conference without taking any questions after addressing the nation.” Similarly, The Post Millenial wrote, “Biden takes no questions after giving remarks on New Orleans.” Biden’s seeming lack of engagement with the press, particularly in the latter portion of his term, has been a widespread concern throughout his presidency.
According to a full transcript from the White House, Biden said in his statement, “I have been continually briefed since early this morning by federal law enforcement leadership and my homeland security team, including Secretary of Homeland Security Ali Mayorkas, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, White House Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall, and the Mayor of New Orleans regarding the horrific incident that occurred there overnight. The FBI is taking the lead in the investigation and is investigating this incident as an act of terrorism. I am grateful for the brave and swift response of local law enforcement in preventing even greater death and injury. I have directed my team to ensure every resource is available as federal, state, and local law enforcement work assiduously to get to the bottom of what happened as quickly as possible and to ensure that there is no remaining threat of any kind.”
“I will continue to receive updates throughout the day, and I will have more to say as we have further information to share,” the president continued. “In the meantime, my heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday. There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities.”
During another portion of his speech, Biden said, “I know I can speak to all Americans when I say, our hearts are the people of New Orleans after despicable act occurred in the early morning hours. To all the families of those who are killed, to all those who are injured, to all the people in New Orleans who are grieving today, I want you to know I grieve with you. Our nation grieves with you. We’re going to stand with you as you mourn and as you heal in the weeks to come. Want to thank our very first responders and law enforcement personnel who stopped the attacker in his tracks before he could kill or injured even more people. And I want to thank you to everyone at the Department of the Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, to the FBI for working non stop to investigate this heinous act.”
Detailing the available information on the attack Biden said, “The FBI had also reported to me that mere hours before the attack, he posted videos on social media indicating that he’s inspired by ISIS, expressing the desire to kill. Desire to kill. The ISIS flag was found in his vehicle, which he rented to conduct this attack. Possible explosives were found in the vehicle as well, and more explosive were near. Were found nearby. The situation is very fluid, and the investigation has a preliminary stage.”
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Watch Biden’s press conference below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.