Roya News | ‘We will stop proposing questions to interviewers’: Biden campaign

Following his recent debate performance, U.S. President Joe Biden’s team provided a list of pre-approved questions to a radio host who interviewed him, the host told CNN.

Andrea Lawful-Sanders, host of “The Source” in Philadelphia, confirmed to CNN’s Victor Blackwell on “First of All” that the Biden campaign sent her a list of questions to approve before her interview with the president.

“The questions were sent to me for approval. I approved them,” Lawful-Sanders said in the interview.

She said she received eight questions from the campaign and approved four for the interview.

CNN later reported that it was the Biden campaign, not the White House, that handled the logistics of the interview.

Blackwell noted that Lawful-Sanders and Earl Ingram, host of “The Earl Ingram Show” in Milwaukee, who also interviewed Biden, asked similar questions of the president.

A Biden campaign spokesperson did not deny that suggested questions had been provided, but stressed that the interview conditions were not contingent on those questions.

“It’s not uncommon for respondents to share their topic preferences. These questions were relevant to current events of the day — the president was asked about his debate performance as well as what he’s done for Black Americans,” said Lauren Hitt, a campaign spokeswoman.

Following the backlash, the Biden campaign announced it would stop suggesting questions to interviewers.

“While interview hosts have always been free to ask any questions they wish, going forward we will refrain from offering suggested questions,” a source familiar with Biden’s booking operation told CNN.

The radio interviews came at a critical time for Biden’s political future, as Democratic donors and supporters have grown increasingly concerned about his age and ability to serve a second term.

During one of those interviews, Biden made several gaffes, including a misstatement about his role as vice president and his involvement in nominating the first black woman to the Supreme Court.

Biden’s campaign has defended the president’s record, with spokesman Ammar Moussa calling the criticism “absurd.” Moussa said Biden’s comments were meant to highlight his historic accomplishments, including his numerous federal judicial appointments.