The glaring omission in Biden's first press conference

Thursday's press conference was President Biden's first since taking office, so there was a lot of ground to cover. Even so, there were some surprising themes in which topics were addressed, and which were glaringly left out of the conversation.
Biden started his White House press conference by announcing a new goal of reaching 200 million COVID-19 vaccine doses within his first 100 days as president. Aside from that, there were no questions and no discussion directly related to the still-ongoing pandemic and the nation's vaccine rollout.
As CBC News' Alexander Panetta pointed out, "sometimes this stuff just happens by accident. Every reporter assumes someone else will ask something about it — and nobody does."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The lack of discussion on vaccine eligibility, vaccine hesitancy, or the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan that was just passed stood in contrast to the amount of time spent talking about immigration.
Biden fielded questions on unaccompanied minors arriving at the border, and crowded facilities holding migrants seeking asylum. He also answered questions about whether he'll run for re-election in 2024, and whether Vice President Kamala Harris would be his running mate. He forcefully commented on Republican-led efforts to restrict voting access. He "dodged" on eliminating the Senate filibuster, but there were no questions to dodge regarding unemployment, climate change, or gun reform.
Of course, an hour-long appearance can only pack in so many questions, but Biden's first presser is likely to lead to calls for another one very soon.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.
-
Zohran Mamdani: the young progressive likely to be New York City's next mayor
In The Spotlight The policies and experience that led to his meteoric rise
-
The best film reboots of all time
The Week Recommends Creativity and imagination are often required to breathe fresh life into old material
-
'More must be done'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts more
Speed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump
-
Trump embraces NATO after budget vow, charm offensive
Speed Read The president reversed course on his longstanding skepticism of the trans-Atlantic military alliance
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders