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According to one CJR article:

Biden conducted far fewer interviews during his first months in office than Trump did: nine in his first hundred days, compared with fifty-one for Trump and forty-six for Barack Obama. The press has gotten the briefing back, yes, but we’ve lost privileged glimpses into the West Wing. [...]

The WHCA has chided the president for holding fewer press conferences than his predecessors.

Are those stats (for the 100 days) accurate and did the same pattern continue in the subsequent months?

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    IMO this would be better on skeptics, but it’s still on topic here. Oct 3, 2021 at 13:33
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    Remember to take context into account when looking at anything. There's currently a global pandemic (which is largely uncontrolled in the USA), so press interviews involve health risks to everyone involved that aren't typically present. Oct 3, 2021 at 22:14

1 Answer 1

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There aren't numbers for the first 100 days AFAIK, but The American Presidency Project has a feature that tracks these numbers by year, dating back to President Calvin Coolidge.

President Biden has held less formal news conferences in his first year as compared to past Presidents. However, these numbers exclude impromptu interactions with the press which was largely popularised by President Trump.

President Number of news conferences held in their 1st year
Bush, H.W. 31
Clinton 38
Bush, W. 19
Obama 27
Trump 21
Biden 7

A list of news conferences counted by The American Presidency Project can be found here.

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    Note that the question is about "interviews," which includes but is not limited to the "news conferences" counted in this answer. As a result, the question reports higher numbers than are shown in this answer. (Having said that, the numbers presented here support the original claim)
    – Sjoerd
    Oct 4, 2021 at 10:27
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    It looks like even if you added in those news conferences, it would only double the number up to 14. Of course the year isn't over yet.
    – T.E.D.
    Oct 4, 2021 at 12:48
  • Good point @T.E.D. - what would the equivalent number be for President Trump?
    – Cullub
    Oct 4, 2021 at 19:40
  • @Cullub - I got curious, but gave up after the 3rd screen that didn't even get me back earlier than 2020. (Dayum, but that dude loved to talk). I don't know about 2016, but for 2020 (admittedly, an election year, so in no way comparable) it would be a lot.
    – T.E.D.
    Oct 4, 2021 at 21:32

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