LaRosa claimed that he was never comfortable with these practices, and asked staffers on his team to “never” ask journalists to share their questions with them before interviews with the former first lady.
“I said to them, ‘Please never ask the journalist for the questions ahead of time. You can always ask about the topics, but do not ask them for the questions for Dr. Biden,’” he explained, noting a difference between how he expected his staffers to interact with the press, and how the president’s team operated.
While “the boys side,” which the president’s team was referred to as by LaRosa, was free to “do their own thing” regarding the press, he made sure to let the staffers on his team know that they would not be following suit.
“My job was to protect my boss, and they could handle their, we called it the boys side, the boys team could do their thing with regard to prepping [Joe Biden] for interviews. But I did not want— I knew from being a former producer at NBC, having long relationships in the press, that was just like 101,” LaRosa asserted. “It was really unethical to be doing that, but these young kids are really taught to make that a part of their sort of pre-pre-screening for interviews.”
Although these “unethical” practices were intended to give the former president an edge during the 2020 election cycle, LaRosa believed that they actually backfired on Biden, showcased in the now-notorious June 27 debate against President Donald Trump, which highlighted Biden’s mental decline.
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