The Biden staffer who locked a reporter in the closet

Was it all an honest mistake, or is the tough treatment endured by a pool reporter at a Florida fundraiser evidence of a larger problem?

Vice President Joe Biden apologized via a spokesperson to reporter Scott Powers, who had to wait for an hour in a storage closet at a Florida fundraiser before being let out to hear the vice
(Image credit: CC BY: White House)

The office of Vice President Joe Biden is in full damage-control mode, after a young member of Biden's staff shut a reporter in a storage closet during a $500-a-head fundraiser in Florida last week. Orlando Sentinel reporter Scott Powers, barred by the administration from talking to guests at the event, was stuck in the cluttered room for an hour before being allowed out to hear speeches by Biden and Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), then returned to the storage room. Biden's office apologized for not providing a "better hold room," calling the incident "the unfortunate mistake of an inexperienced staffer." Is that all this was, or is the Obama administration hostile to the press?

This is evidence of a deeper problem: On the surface, this is funny, says Moe Lane at RedState, but it's also "very symbolic." This assault on the dignity of a member of the Fourth Estate is just part of the Obama administration's "institutional arrogance." Otherwise, Biden would have called personally to say how sorry he was — as the host of the fundraiser did. Instead, Biden's office compounded the insult by sending a dismissive email masked as an apology.

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