Biden news conference to test his discipline

Nodding to the large number of journalists assembled, he added, “I want to get this straight, man — I’m not going to get this many of you in the room again until I’m inaugurated.” The group laughed.

A week later, the scandal would push him out of the presidential race. But more than three decades later, he would — at last — be inaugurated. And on Thursday afternoon, he once again will face a comparable crowd of reporters.

Biden has surprised many longtime associates with the discipline and conciseness of his communications as president during his first two months in office. Thursday’s session will test whether Biden truly has grown more scripted, or whether the restrictions of the coronavirus pandemic — and the tight controls on the presidency — just make it seem that way.

“He certainly has been very disciplined,” said Mike McCurry, who was press secretary in the Clinton White House. “They’re working from more formal statements. He’s not mixing it up or being as impromptu as he was during previous parts of his career.”

But McCurry added, “Being in the basement in the campaign kind of forced a previous protocol that didn’t translate to give-and-take. It serves him pretty well.”

This time, Biden will be in a different room and at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue from his 1987 performance. Rather than trying to rescue his presidential candidacy, he will be attempting to build his presidential legacy. Instead of being a fresh-faced senator on the rise, at 78 he’s the oldest-ever U.S. president.

But some of the same garrulousness that caused him problems three decades ago is still prompting headaches. For all of their efforts to exert control, Biden’s White House aides have had to correct various statements during his two months in office.

Biden said on “CBS Evening News” that former president Donald Trump should not receive intelligence briefings, but the next day the White House clarified that it would be up to intelligence officials to make that determination. Biden said his administration was aiming for 1.5 million vaccinations per day rather than the 1 million he had earlier pledged — only to have the White House later say 1 million was still the goal.

As he faces his first presidential news conference, it puts potential pitfalls in front of the man who once confessed, “I am a gaffe machine.”

He has waited longer than any president in at least a century to hold his first formal session with the White House press corps. By this point, Barack Obama had already held two. George W. Bush had staged three, Bill Clinton five. Trump had held one solo news conference, but that accompanied four others that included foreign leaders.

And recent days have provided a reminder that even with his powerful megaphone, Biden is not in total control of the agenda. Ample issues have arisen that are likely to make for tough questions on Thursday.

As Biden launched a “Help Is Here” tour last week to showcase his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, it was overshadowed by a shooting rampage that killed eight people in the Atlanta area. Biden’s trip this week to Ohio took place hours after another mass shooting that killed 10 people in Boulder, Colo.

“Weeks like this are why in practice it’s so challenging for presidents to use the bully pulpit to ‘sell’ legislation like the covid relief bill,” tweeted Tommy Vietor, a former Obama spokesman. “Biden has to address the horrific violence in Atlanta & Colorado. He has to focus on the border. It’s not as simple as planning a tour.”

Another likely — and potentially uncomfortable — subject for a question could be Biden’s repeated stumbles last week while climbing the stairs to Air Force One.

White House officials declined to say exactly how Biden is readying for all of this. “How is he preparing for it? Looking at your Twitters and seeing what’s on your mind,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki jokingly told reporters on Tuesday.

She added, “He’s thinking about what he wants to say, what he wants to convey, where he can provide updates, and, you know, looking forward to the opportunity to engage with a free press.”

Biden’s press strategy has been far more targeted than Trump’s effort to make himself ubiquitous in U.S. culture and politics, tweeting about everything from the Oscars to National Football League games.

On many days, Biden makes just one public appearance, focusing on a single pre-announced topic. That has helped keep the White House on track and minimized Biden’s well-known tendency to wander down verbal byways or surprise staffers with unplanned announcements.

He did hold a CNN town hall and has sat for a handful of one-on-one interviews, including one last week with ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos that seemed like a test run for the news conference. Biden also occasionally stops before or after a flight on Air Force One to answer a few questions.

But Thursday’s…