✈️ VP Travel Report #1 - Greensboro, North Carolina - Wheels up

Good morning from Joint Base Andrews. The Vice President is traveling today to Greensboro, North Carolina, to headline a midterm campaign rally. The VP took a few questions on the tarmac before boarding Air Force 2. We will be wheels up shortly.

Please check the quotes to tape.

Q - CNN, MS Now, and Politico are now suing over the ban. Do you think it's appropriate for the president to be banning media outlets just because he doesn't like what they report?

Well, I take some issue with the premise. So he's not banning media outlets. What he's doing is saying we're not going to give you special access to the White House if you engage in what is effectively propaganda. We have to remember those three outlets account about 92 percent of the stories that they have on the President of the United States on the administration are negative. That's not representative of the American people. It's not representative of public opinion. So if you're going to engage in what is effectively far left propaganda. Why would a Republican White House give you special access?

Q - But sir you’ve talked a lot about free speech over the years. How is this not an attack on free speech?

Well, they can still report on the Trump White House. They can still get the public reports. They can still, of course, talk to people in the administration and outside the administration. What the president has said is, we're not going to give you special access inside the White House. The way that I think about it is, if you go back to the Biden administration or the Obama administration, compare, let's say, Politico to Breitbart. If you actually look at the objective analysis, Politico and Breitbart are Politico is as anti-Trump as Breitbart was anti-Obama or anti-Biden. Now, why on God's green earth would Donald Trump be expected to give Politico special access when nobody in the media expected the Biden administration or the Obama administration to give Breitbart special access. It's about basic fairness. They can still report. They still have the access to free speech. They're just not going to get an office in the White House anymore.

Q - Are you optimistic of these talks in Ukraine or in Iran this week at the UN? Are there any signs of any hope for any kind of deal?

Well, look, I'm always optimistic that we're going to make progress. I think, as the president has said, the Russia-Ukraine war has been by by far the toughest of the international conflicts to solve. I believe he's meeting with President Zelensky either tomorrow or the day after. So I'm sure there's going to be some good progress made. But look, this thing has been tough to solve, no doubt about it. But I'd rather work for a president who has energetically tried to solve the problem. We're going to keep on trying to solve it. Do I think it'll get solved eventually? Yes. It's just a question of time.

Q - Gas prices are really high right now. How much longer should Americans be expected to pay these high prices?

Well, look, we're very cognizant of the fact that because the Iranians are terrorizing international shipping, energy prices are elevated. We're doing everything that we can to one try to scan down on those prices, but give the American people some relief in the interim. One of the things the president has talked about is encouraging some of the states to give Americans relief from the gas taxes. I think we all have to accept that so long as the Iranians are trying to terrorize international shipping, we of course are going to try to push back against that.

Kate Sullivan
Bloomberg News
Mon. Sep. 21, 10:42 AM

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