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White House live TV feed suddenly cuts out as Biden is mid-question during a wildfire briefing

The White House has apparently developed a habit of cutting off the boss

Published: September 14, 2021 8:03am

Updated: September 14, 2021 12:02pm

The White House abruptly cut the live cable TV feed Monday of President Biden talking in a briefing on wildfires with federal and state officials

During an early-week visit to Boise, Idaho, where Biden was briefed about the ongoing wildfires that have plagued a handful Western states for the past several months, the president moved to ask a question to George Geissler of the National Association of State Foresters.

"Can I ask you a question?" said Biden.

"Of course," replied Geissler.

Then, mid-sentence, the president was cut off as the White House stream suddenly died. 

This is just the latest of a number of occasions on which the White House team has apparently stopped the president from publicly going off-script during a speaking engagement. Back in March, Biden's feed was cut after he offered to take questions at an event for Democratic lawmakers. Last month, the president's audio feed was stopped just moments before he would attempt to answer a reporter question about the military withdrawal deadline from Afghanistan.

Furthermore, recent reports suggest that West Wing staffers often mute the the television when their boss gets up to deliver remarks due to "anxiety" that he will veer into uncharted territory and away from "the West Wing's carefully orchestrated messaging."

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