This week, a photographer snapped a picture of the notes United States President Joe Biden used during a recent press conference that appeared to reveal that he knew ahead of time what the reporters were going to ask. And one NFL star was not happy about that.
Green Bay Packers offensive lineman David Bakhtiari had some strong words from Joe Biden after seeing his notes ahead of the interview, calling it “a bit too far” and suggesting that it was just “one big play.”
“Can we have authentic and real NON-SCRIPTED interviews?? I understand and agree with prepping someone (like studying for a test) but this is a bit too far. It’s just one big play..,” Bakhtiari said in a tweet.
Can we have authentic and real NON-SCRIPTED interviews?? I understand and agree with prepping someone (like studying for a test) but this is a bit too far. It’s just one big play.. https://t.co/xmS1y7zX90
— David Bakhtiari (@DavidBakhtiari) May 14, 2023
Bakhtiari made it clear that he understands both sides of the political spectrum do this, but that doesn’t make it acceptable in his eyes.
“Again. Let me state this: I know both sides do this. This isn’t about sides. Neither should. And if they need this to “not look like a [censored]..” then maybe, just maybe, we should raise the qualification bar,” Bakhtiari said in a follow-up Tweet.
He also made it clear that this is not the way press conferences work in the NFL.
“Nope. We get generic points that’ll be ask and suggestions of how to navigate our answers. For the most part it is a free for all from the questions, to the answers,” Bakhtiari said in response to a suggestion that this is similar to how post-game interviews are conducted.
Nope. We get generic points that’ll be ask and suggestions of how to navigate our answers. For the most part it is a free for all from the questions, to the answers. https://t.co/Hr9giiJf5i
— David Bakhtiari (@DavidBakhtiari) May 14, 2023
It sounds like he thinks politicians should get the same treatment from the media as NFL players.
