Earlier, we told you about reporters scrambling to land an exclusive interview with the person vacuuming the red carpet ahead of the Joe Biden-Vladimir Putin summit in Geneva.
GENEVA:
Interviewing and photographing the person vacuuming the red carpet…. pic.twitter.com/lY1BD1Rbax— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) June 16, 2021
Little did we know just how desperate the media actually are. Politico White House Anita Kumar’s account is really something:
Dramatic scene in Geneva via @AnitaKumar01 pool report: 'we were pushed and shoved by security officials and Russian media. Poolers tripped over cords'
Putin summit squabble is latest in series of press-access issues pervading President Biden's first foreign trip https://t.co/14yaZamk4I
— Steven Nelson (@stevennelson10) June 16, 2021
More on the press chaos at the Putin/Biden summit via @anitakumar01 pic.twitter.com/VCeops8vt1
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) June 16, 2021
This "media scuffle" at the Biden-Putin meeting is wild – per the White House pool pic.twitter.com/ZkfJThJIDi
— Laura Kelly (@HelloLauraKelly) June 16, 2021
"There was screaming and yelling as a Swiss official asked everyone to be quiet." https://t.co/oLrdl9OTDV
— Andrew Clark (@AndrewHClark) June 16, 2021
Additional detail via @AnitaKumar01 on the fight that broke out against US reporters in Geneva as President Biden and Vladimir Putin 'appeared amused by the scene' pic.twitter.com/uGEEwhcrMs
— Steven Nelson (@stevennelson10) June 16, 2021
They do appear amused here:
Recommended
Biden and Putin watch the media scuffle pic.twitter.com/8YB69A3Yvc
— Anita Kumar (@anitakumar01) June 16, 2021
Here’s video of their amusement:
Press Pool Disaster At Geneva Summit. pic.twitter.com/Po2V1fd8aG
— SCUBA MIKE🤿 (@scuba2024) June 16, 2021
Surprised no one gave Biden and Putin popcorn to munch on.
I would have given quite a bit to watch this unfold https://t.co/sosIrT9jJG
— Oilfield Rando (@Oilfield_Rando) June 16, 2021
I'd love to see video of that.
— TKSaturn (@tksaturn) June 16, 2021
It’s always interesting to see just how far the media are willing to go to debase themselves.
This summit is becoming more about the American media debasing and humiliating themselves than the actual substance of the summit. https://t.co/KYN3jXKcjC
— EdAsante (@EdAsante77) June 16, 2021
Until there’s better video of the reporters, we’ll just have to content ourselves with photos like this:
Scene from the fracas earlier at the Biden-Putin summit here in Geneva, with Russian security forces pushing me out while President Biden looks on
Photo: @b_smialowski pic.twitter.com/STkXXXhvU6
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) June 16, 2021
Look at all those firefighters.
This reminds me of the North Korea visit when @StephGrisham45 went to battle with Kim Jong Un’s security to get the US media access to the Trump/ KJU meeting.
Seemed like she felt like if Trump was going all the way to the DMZ they wanted our media to see it. https://t.co/0vXvASltLF
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) June 16, 2021
Speaking of Stephanie Grisham:
The difference between the Trump administration and the Biden administration: https://t.co/9PuFavs6Ml pic.twitter.com/021M4fEdw5
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) June 16, 2021
Anyway, this stuff couldn’t be happening to a nicer bunch of people.
— mallen2010 (@mallen_2010) June 16, 2021
While we can certainly see why someone would be amused by the sight of journalists physically fighting with each other for access, it’s also worth noting that Joe Biden’s amusement at Russian security personnel yelling at and pushing American journalists does seem a bit unsettling.
This is…a terrible thing for Biden to do. https://t.co/hyLvqcrDiP
— Elijah Cohen 🏳️🌈 (@PA_Capitol_Boy) June 16, 2021
Members of the American press are shoved by Russian security and according to the pool report: both presidents appeared amused by the scene. "At one point, Biden leaned over and spoke to the interpreter and smiled."
Seems like an odd reaction from the U.S. president. https://t.co/FddZWChFiV
— Michele Perez Exner (@michelepexner) June 16, 2021
It does seem odd, particularly from a guy who repeatedly accused his predecessor of being too tough on the media and too soft on Russia.
Why would Trump do this?
— Josh (@bills4ever833) June 16, 2021
could you IMAGINE if this happened during the Trump admin???? https://t.co/1gkwqrkObv
— Tiffy Boguslawski (@TBogie14) June 16, 2021
IMAGINE IF THIS WAS TRUMP https://t.co/9yZf2JlG52
— Shannon Fenner (@ShannonFenner3) June 16, 2021
If Trump was still president this would be the only story of the week. https://t.co/VloaEmHMZj
— Jon Schroeder Total Landscaping (@jonschr) June 16, 2021
Imagine–just freakin' Imagine–if the last sentence read "Trump" instead of "Biden."
The condemnation, gnashing of teeth, claims of "assault" on a "free press," boycotts by WH press pool, @ProjectLincoln ads about a president failing to protect "his own" against Putin, etc… https://t.co/40ZpgcKExi
— Christian Cámara (@ChristianCamara) June 16, 2021
biden laughed at freedom of the press. so it goes. https://t.co/virUbPpy6u
— kaitlin, political fashion police (@thefactualprep) June 16, 2021
So it goes.
Silver lining:
But at least there's no more mean tweets. https://t.co/4uwrBLgy0F
— RBe (@RBPundit) June 16, 2021
Thank goodness for that.