I Disagree with Freeman

James Freeman, of The Wall Street Journal, has an op-ed out in which he says President Joe Biden should basically stay out of the public’s eye and not speak to us of important things.

For a while this column has been urging President Joe Biden to avoid public speaking, at least when the topic is important.

And

This column’s argument for the president to stick with prepared statements is not intended…as an ad hoc solution to the president’s reckless habit of making odd off-the-cuff statements about nuclear-armed powers.

I disagree. Biden should interact with the press—take questions without his handlers present, in addition to speak to the press—on a daily basis and always on the record. This would let us average Americans get a more accurate picture of Biden’s ability to function in the rough and tumble ad hoc-ery of the real world, and it would be more informative of his fitness for office and for reelection than watching him occasionally fumble with his teleprompter.

We also need to hear his off-the-cuff remarks to/about anybody and any nation, not just nuclear-armed powers. These remarks are much more informative to us average Americans regarding Biden’s thinking on the subject than any carefully scripted commentary or equally carefully scripted answers to just as carefully pre-selected questions from the press.

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