International journalists were pushed and shoved by Russian agents during a meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin as Biden silently watched. He was even accused by the New York Times of enjoying the debacle that unfolded while he was giving his opening statement.
“Journalists pushed and shoved, yelling at each other to move but no one did. After just a minute or two, Russian security pulled the red rope separating the media from the leaders back to try to keep them away from the presidents,” journalist Antia Kumar of Politico told the White House pool in her report.
“Russian security yelled at journalists to get out and began pushing journalists. Journalists and White House officials screamed back that the Russian security should stop touching us. Your pooler was pushed multiple times, nearly to the ground, as many poolers tripped over the red rope, which was now almost to the ground,” she added. “Kumar wrote that “Both presidents watched and listened to the media scuffle in front of them. They appeared amused by the scene. At one point, Biden leaned over and spoke to the interpreter and smiled.”