President Joe Biden’s campaign is facing continued scrutiny after it was revealed that questions for two radio interviews were provided in advance by his aides.
Andrea Lawful-Sanders, host of “The Source” on WURD in Philadelphia, told CNN on Saturday that Biden’s officials sent her a list of eight questions ahead of the Wednesday interview. Lawful-Sanders approved four of these questions to ask the president.
“I got several questions — eight of them,” she explained. “And the four that were chosen were the ones that I approved.”
Lauren Hitt, a spokesperson for the Biden campaign, clarified that it was campaign aides, not White House officials, who provided the questions, per the New York Times. Hitt emphasized that it is “not uncommon” for campaigns to share preferred topics for interviews and that the campaign does not “condition interviews on acceptance of these questions”
“Hosts are always free to ask the questions they think will best inform their listeners,” Hitt said. “In addition to these interviews, the president also participated in a press gaggle yesterday as well as an interview with ABC. Americans have had several opportunities to see him unscripted since the debate.”