President Biden promised to have the most transparent administration ever. That promise has not panned out. 

Biden is one of the least transparent presidents in modern times. It's likely because he isn't up to his job and he isn't really the person in charge. Those around him are making the decisions. He suffers from dementia so it is hard for him to communicate. 

The president can't ad-lib well or answer questions off the cuff. He is easily confused and he loses his train of thought. None of this is going to stop with Biden. He can't control it and there is no cure for dementia. He is what we have.

He traveled to the G7 in Italy this week. The White House press corps went along, as they do. During these summits, there is usually a press conference or two that the American president does with the international press. 

The focus at the G7 for Biden was Ukraine. He was pleased to boast about working with the other world leaders to work out a deal so that Ukraine secured loan money backed by the profits from frozen Russian investments. It was all worked out by Thursday. It is a 10-year agreement to continue providing military equipment to Ukraine. 

Ukraine is not a G7 member but Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky was invited to attend the summit in Italy. He and Biden participated in a joint press conference on Thursday evening.

Each man delivered prepared remarks. 

“Would we stand with Ukraine?” Biden said at the news conference. “Would we stand for sovereignty, freedom, and against tyranny? The United States, the G7 and countries around the world have consistently answered that question by saying yes we will. We will say it again … we’re going to stand with Ukraine.”

That's boilerplate stuff. We get it, Joe. We stand with Ukraine, come hell or high water. So, when it was time for the question and answer part of the news conference, Biden only wanted to talk about Ukraine. 

Joe Biden's staff prepares a list of reporters from which he is to call upon. That happens any time he does a press conference, rare as they are. It is reported that questions are screened in advance by his staff and they prepare answers for him. In this case, though, there did not seem to be pre-screened questions.

The first reporter called on by Biden was an AP reporter. That reporter went off track, though, and asked a question about Biden's son, Hunter, a convicted felon. Biden brushed that off by declaring that he's proud of his son for conquering his addiction problems. He said Hunter is the smartest and strongest man he knows, which is a common response from the Big Guy. Biden said he abides by the jury's decisions. 

Biden and Zelensky agreed to take four questions - two from the American press, two from the Ukrainian press. 

The second reporter Biden called on was with Bloomberg. That reporter asked a question about Hamas and that is what set Biden off. 

When Bloomberg’s Josh Wingrove got to ask his question, he shifted the topic to U.S. efforts in the Israel-Gaza war, which chaffed Biden.

"I wish you guys would play by the rules a little bit. I'm here to talk about a critical situation in Ukraine. You're asking another subject. I'll be happy to answer in detail later, but the bottom line is that we agreed [in regard to Gaza]," Biden responded.

Excuse me. Play by what rules? There are no rules in press conferences, or at least there aren't supposed to be any rules. We are supposed to have a free press in America. Journalists ask whatever questions they want to ask when they are called on. 

The White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) put out a strongly worded (for them) statement after Biden's outburst.

"The White House Correspondents’ Association believes it is in the public interest to make clear that at a presidential press conference, at home or abroad, there are no preconditions regarding question topics," the statement read. "While the White House does determine the number of reporters the president will recognize, it is up to professional journalists to decide what to ask." 

It continued, "Any leader may prefer that reporters ask only one question or ask only about a topic that is of most interest to the president or another world leader, but a free press functions independently. WHCA would welcome more opportunities to pose a range of questions to the president in a press conference setting."

I wish we did have an independent press but we have seen time and time again that the American press is deeply in the tank for Democrats. They have chosen their side and stick with it. 

Biden is used to being protected from unwanted questions. He is sheltered from the press. This is why. He isn't able to handle a basic press conference with two questions from the American press.