President Joe Biden’s team bumped his scheduled “Big Boy” news conference to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, immediately prompting users to flood X — formerly Twitter — with possible reasons for the delay.
A number suggested that the move had been made in order to accommodate an afternoon nap in the hopes that Biden would be sharper than usual — and others cautioned that even that was a risk, since the later the news conference went, the closer it would get to the president’s bedtime.
“BIDEN’s presser tonight is now 6:30p,” Jake Sherman announced, and the replies poured in.
Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins commented, “Gotta say, I love the move. Very strategic, and smart to give himself a hard out at 6:45 with an excuse that people will believe: it’s bed time.”
Gotta say, I love the move. Very strategic, and smart to give himself a hard out at 6:45 with an excuse that people will believe: it’s bed time.
— Kristan Hawkins (@KristanHawkins) July 11, 2024
“He needs a nap to rest up from the prior nap,” another posted.
He needs a nap to rest up from the prior nap. https://t.co/nN73VmQqG0
— Phineas Fahrquar (@irishspy) July 11, 2024
And while most of the comments focused on whether or not Biden would be napping prior to the press conference or heading straight to bed afterward, a few picked up on another possible reason for choosing 6:30 p.m. specifically: that’s when evening newscasts air on the east coast, meaning that a presidential news conference would not finish in time for the local stations to cover it.
“The network evening newscasts air at this time on the East Coast… in case you’re wondering why they chose this exact time,” Joe Concha said.
The network evening newscasts air at this time on the East Coast… in case you’re wondering why they chose this exact time. https://t.co/DWYVUu8QH2
— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) July 11, 2024
Newsbusters managing editor Curtis Houck had the same idea, which he explained further in a thread.
“With the White House moving Biden’s press conference back another hour to 6:30 p.m. Eastern, this allows them to further bury it. Why? Stick with me for a second,” he began.
With the White House moving Biden’s press conference back another hour to 6:30 p.m. Eastern, this allows them to further bury it.
Why?
Stick with me for a second.
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 11, 2024
“The network evening newscasts on ABC, CBS, and NBC air at 6:30 and, if it had been earlier in the day like originally planned, they’d have a story,” he continued. “Now, they can bypass them for primetime cable shows. ABC, CBS, and NBC shows won’t truly have a set of reactions until Friday AM.”
AND, because of this, ABC, CBS, NBC aren’t as likely to carry it given they have newscast to air, meaning fewer people will see it.
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 11, 2024
“AND, because of this, ABC, CBS, NBC aren’t as likely to carry it given they have newscast to air, meaning fewer people will see it,” he concluded, adding later, “But at this point, anything they can do to shrink the audience that will see this thing in full and unvarnished (i.e. without watching news reports later), they’re going to do it.”
[#item_full_content]
[[{“value”:”
President Joe Biden’s team bumped his scheduled “Big Boy” news conference to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, immediately prompting users to flood X — formerly Twitter — with possible reasons for the delay.
A number suggested that the move had been made in order to accommodate an afternoon nap in the hopes that Biden would be sharper than usual — and others cautioned that even that was a risk, since the later the news conference went, the closer it would get to the president’s bedtime.
“BIDEN’s presser tonight is now 6:30p,” Jake Sherman announced, and the replies poured in.
Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins commented, “Gotta say, I love the move. Very strategic, and smart to give himself a hard out at 6:45 with an excuse that people will believe: it’s bed time.”
Gotta say, I love the move. Very strategic, and smart to give himself a hard out at 6:45 with an excuse that people will believe: it’s bed time.
— Kristan Hawkins (@KristanHawkins) July 11, 2024
“He needs a nap to rest up from the prior nap,” another posted.
He needs a nap to rest up from the prior nap. https://t.co/nN73VmQqG0
— Phineas Fahrquar (@irishspy) July 11, 2024
And while most of the comments focused on whether or not Biden would be napping prior to the press conference or heading straight to bed afterward, a few picked up on another possible reason for choosing 6:30 p.m. specifically: that’s when evening newscasts air on the east coast, meaning that a presidential news conference would not finish in time for the local stations to cover it.
“The network evening newscasts air at this time on the East Coast… in case you’re wondering why they chose this exact time,” Joe Concha said.
The network evening newscasts air at this time on the East Coast… in case you’re wondering why they chose this exact time. https://t.co/DWYVUu8QH2
— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) July 11, 2024
Newsbusters managing editor Curtis Houck had the same idea, which he explained further in a thread.
“With the White House moving Biden’s press conference back another hour to 6:30 p.m. Eastern, this allows them to further bury it. Why? Stick with me for a second,” he began.
With the White House moving Biden’s press conference back another hour to 6:30 p.m. Eastern, this allows them to further bury it.
Why?
Stick with me for a second.
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 11, 2024
“The network evening newscasts on ABC, CBS, and NBC air at 6:30 and, if it had been earlier in the day like originally planned, they’d have a story,” he continued. “Now, they can bypass them for primetime cable shows. ABC, CBS, and NBC shows won’t truly have a set of reactions until Friday AM.”
AND, because of this, ABC, CBS, NBC aren’t as likely to carry it given they have newscast to air, meaning fewer people will see it.
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 11, 2024
“AND, because of this, ABC, CBS, NBC aren’t as likely to carry it given they have newscast to air, meaning fewer people will see it,” he concluded, adding later, “But at this point, anything they can do to shrink the audience that will see this thing in full and unvarnished (i.e. without watching news reports later), they’re going to do it.”
“}]]
