Reporters lodge complaint with White House over Biden-Johnson meeting access

Members of the White House press pool lodged a complaint with the White House after British reporters but not American reporters were recognized for questions during President Biden’s meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday afternoon.

White House Correspondents' Association President Steve Portnoy, who served as the radio pooler on Tuesday, said that the editorial component of the pool went to White House press secretary Jen Psaki to lodge a formal complaint on Tuesday about the lack of questions granted to American reporters.

Biden and Johnson each delivered brief remarks in the Oval Office. Johnson then granted questions to two British reporters, who asked about the case of Harry Dunn, the British teen killed in a crash in the United Kingdom (U.K.) two years ago, and trade. White House aides then ushered the press out of the Oval Office without Biden calling on American reporters.

In response to a shouted question from CBS News's Ed O'Keefe about the situation at the U.S. southern border, Biden responded in part that “violence is not justified,” but the remainder of his comments were indecipherable over shouts from White House aides trying to get reporters out of the Oval Office.

The Biden administration has withstood scrutiny after images and video circulated showing Customs and Border Protection agents on horseback chasing Haitian migrants at the border. Vice President Harris condemned the treatment in brief remarks to reporters earlier Tuesday, saying that human beings “should never be treated that way.”