Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News,
Republican Senator James Risch demanded Tuesday to know who is in charge of cutting off Joe Biden’s microphone when he goes off script, as has been witnessed several times over the past few months.
During a hearing before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Risch asked Secretary of State Anthony Blinken who is “calling the shots?”
“One of the things we need to get to the bottom to is who is responsible for this? Who made the decisions?” Risch said, referring to Biden’s Afghanistan debacle.
The Senator then added that Biden “can’t even speak without someone in the White House censoring it or signing off on it.”
Risch further urged “This is a puppeteer act, if you would, and we need to know who’s in charge and who is making the decisions.”
“There is not enough lipstick in the world to put on this pig to make it look any differently than what it actually is,” Risch added regarding the Afghanistan mess, adding “The American people want to know who is responsible for this?”
“Somebody in the White House has authority to press the button and stop the president, cut off the president’s speaking ability and sound. Who is that person?” Risch then directly asked Blinken, who denied that this had ever happened or that there was any such person.
Tweeting out the video, leftists insisted the claims were ‘bizarre,’ ‘ridiculous’ and ‘absurd’:
When you are living in the Murdock news bubble….a NY Post story prompted by a RNC tweet and then echoed across the right-wing tv & twitterverse. https://t.co/eDT4t5joKr https://t.co/kOgUzoPfMe
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) September 14, 2021
At length, Sen. Jim Risch absurdly said someone at the White House yesterday hit a “button” to stop Biden from talking.
No. There was a planned “pool spray,” in which press/cam is allowed in for brief remarks at a meeting’s start; it ended as Biden began questioning officials.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) September 14, 2021
Also, like, these are the words Biden said before the feed ended: “Can I ask you a question? One of the things that I’ve been working on, with some others, is…” It wasn’t like he started telling some crazy story. (Anyway this is all ridiculous.)
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) September 14, 2021
Translation of “pool spray at top” — reporters will hear some opening remarks and then leave as the president begins to engage in the briefing.
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) September 14, 2021
The incident Risch was specifically referring to happened a few days ago:
BIDEN: “Can I ask you a question?”
*White House feed cuts out” pic.twitter.com/YQ9I9u3r98
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 13, 2021
Yet, this isn’t the first time the White House has cut Biden’s feed. Biden’s audio feed was cut last month as he was about to respond to a reporter’s question on his administration’s military withdrawal deadline from Afghanistan.
REPORTER: “If Americans are still in Afghanistan after the deadline what will you do?”
BIDEN: *smirks*
*White House cuts audio feed* pic.twitter.com/k0SGWhpXm6
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 25, 2021
As we reported at the time, the feed was muted (it’s on a delay) because Biden made a sardonic comment.
The White House also cut the feed during a live streamed event in March after Biden said, “I’m happy to take questions if that’s what I’m supposed to do …”
Also, according to Politico, Biden’s staffers have admitted to cutting him off to avoid gaffes.
And as we have seen, it isn’t far fetched to suggest Biden is micromanaged:
A button to control his audio? Absurd to suggest the people who give him the list of reporters he’s allowed to answer, with the instructions for what he’s supposed to do next, which he inevitably reads out loud, would have or need such a thing. https://t.co/gWSkAuYpeD
— Jack (@MrBeagleman) September 14, 2021
