Biden asks staffer for permission to take questions at Michigan event before reporters are ushered away

President Biden on Thursday was heard asking for permission from a staffer to “take a couple of questions” from the audience during a campaign stop in Michigan — prompting other aides to quickly move the press out of earshot.

“Can I take a couple questions?” Biden, 81, asked a female staffer as he met with supporters and campaign volunteers on the front porch of a Saginaw city council member’s home. 

“Yeah, we’re going to take a few questions,” the staffer responded. 

The staffer’s response apparently served as a signal to three other aides, who quickly began to herd up the reporters already positioned on the sidewalk about 20 feet away. 

“Thank you, press … back in the vehicles,” they shouted, escorting the media away before Biden could take any questions. 

It’s the second time this week that Biden — who has held the fewest formal interviews and press conferences than any modern president — has asked if he could take questions.

On Monday, after concluding his remarks to an audience at the New Hampshire Democratic headquarters in Manchester, the commander in chief asked, “Am I allowed to take any questions?” 

“Anybody here a sta–” Biden went on, apparently about to say “staff” before trailing off, as the crowd laughed.

A staffer quickly interjected, “Thank you, press,” before the camera feed covering the event cut out.

Biden has also frequently told crowds that he will get “in trouble” for answering unauthorized questions.

In one viral incident, Biden was prevented from answering questions about Afghanistan at the White House Easter Egg Roll in April 2022 when one of his staffers — dressed in an Easter Bunny costume — interjected and led him away.

The Biden campaign’s apparent insistence that he not take questions from the public in front of reporters troubled some on social media.  

“This is bad. Really bad. They’ve told his staff not to let him open his mouth,” conservative columnist Buzz Patterson wrote on X, in response to video footage of the Saginaw event.

“Trump would’ve walked out and spoken spontaneously for an hour.”

Fox News contributor Joe Conchan opined, “So if [you’re] wondering why poll numbers are dropping post [State of the Union], here’s Exhibit Z since then…”

“The ‘leader’ of the free world has to ask permission to speak to the press,” another X user noted.