Pool Reports by Scott Bixby, The Daily Beast
| Sent: | Reports: |
| July 20, 2021 10:56 |
White House In-Town Pool Report #1 — gathering for Tampa Bay Buccaneers event Greetings from a hot and hazy White House, where your pooler has been tested and is gathering with other press for this morning's event with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, reigning Super Bowl champions. President Biden and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff will welcome the Bucs — the first Super Bowl victors to be honored at the White House since 2016 — on the South Lawn at 11.15 a.m. The event will be livestreamed at the usual place if you want to catch a glimpse of Tom Brady, whose membership on the team your pooler only discovered this morning, somehow! At 3.15 this afternoon, President Biden will hold a Cabinet meeting to mark six months since his inauguration. Vice President Harris will also attend. Today's briefing is currently slated for 11.45 a.m., with an obvious asterisk if an impromptu touch football game breaks out on the South Lawn. Cheers, |
| July 20, 2021 11:32 |
White House In-Town Pool Report #2 — Tampa Bay Bucs event begins As noted, this morning's event is being livestreamed on the White House website — your pooler will send color once it concludes. Note: Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff told reporters ahead of the event that he is a "big football fan," a fact borne out by his devotion to fantasy football. His team's name: "Nirvana." Per the White House, here is a list of those attending today's event: Attending the Super Bowl LV Championship visit of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are more than 100 members of the Buccaneers, including players, owners, managers, staff, and members of the Glazer family. Also attending are: NASA Administrator Bill Nelson Glazer Family Bryan Glazer, Owner/Co-Chairman Coaching Staff/Personnel Bruce Arians, Head Coach Players Shaquil Barrett Speaking along with the President: Bryan Glazer, Owner/Co-Chairman |
| July 20, 2021 11:38 |
White House In-Town Pool Report #3 — 2-minute warning for Tampa Bay Buccaneers event Two minutes until President Biden arrives. |
| July 20, 2021 12:01 |
White House In-Town Pool Report #4 — Tampa Bay Buccaneers event concludes After accepting a jersey with the number "46" on the back and taking a group photo with the assembled players, President Biden shook hands with many of them before reporters were hustled to the briefing. Also, your pooler (unsurprisingly) got a piece of football trivia wrong in his initial pool report — the New England Patriots visited the White House in 2017, making today's event the first visit by the reigning Super Bowl champions in four years, not five. |
| July 20, 2021 12:03 |
White House In-Town Pool Report #5 — 2-minute warning for briefing Two minutes! |
| July 20, 2021 12:14 |
White House In-Town Pool Report #6 — briefing begins Eleven minutes after the two-minute warning. The briefing is being livestreamed at the usual place, if you need the link. |
| July 20, 2021 12:49 |
White House In-Town Pool Report #7 — briefing concludes Briefing has concluded. |
| July 20, 2021 14:08 |
White House In-Town Pool Report #8 — lunch lid We have a lunch lid until 2.45 p.m. |
| July 20, 2021 14:59 |
White House In-Town Pool Report #9 — gathering for Cabinet meeting pool spray The pool is gathering in the briefing room ahead of President Biden's Cabinet meeting, which marks the six-month-a-versary of his administration. |
| July 20, 2021 15:46 |
White House In-Town Pool Report #10 — Cabinet meeting Opening the Cabinet meeting, President Biden outlined a "brief progress report" on the first six months of his administration, highlighting four main issues: the pandemic, the economy, restoring American leadership abroad, and the rest of his (largely domestic) agenda. POTUS highlighted that deaths from COVID-19 are down nearly 90 percent from their peak, and thanked the members of his Cabinet for "the great job you did in getting that done." POTUS noted that "virtually all of the COVID deaths are from unvaccinated people," and while "it seems like a constant uphill climb," the nation is making progress. On the economy, POTUS declared that the Cabinet's efforts had "helped create three million jobs, more than any administration has done in the first six months of being in office." "I think we can turn this great movement into an economic boom," POTUS said, highlighting high levels of public support for components of his infrastructure and tax plans. POTUS reiterated his belief that the challenge of American leadership is to prove to autocratic regimes that "democracy is more capable" than autocracy, and that "America is back." The "more" section, POTUS said, includes other areas of importance to his administration, including voting rights, immigration, police reform and crime. "The bottom line is, we're delivering on our promises," POTUS said, before announcing that he was ready for the Cabinet to get to work. The pool was ushered out of the room and POTUS did not respond to questions from members of the pool. |
| July 20, 2021 15:47 |
White House In-Town Pool Report #11 — Cabinet meeting attendees Per the White House, the following officials are attending today's meeting: Cabinet members Vice President Kamala Harris Staff Cristóbal Alex, Deputy Cabinet Secretary |
| July 20, 2021 16:00 |
White House In-Town Pool Report #11.5 — updated Cabinet meeting attendees An eagle-eyed reporter at the Capitol (h/t Seung Min Kim) flagged that a few of the attendees on the White House's list are actually meeting on the Hill this afternoon. Here's an up-to-date list of Cabinet meeting attendees: Cabinet members Vice President Kamala Harris Staff Cristóbal Alex, Deputy Cabinet Secretary |
| July 20, 2021 16:18 |
White House In-Town Pool Report #12 — lid A lid was called at 4:17 p.m. Eid Mubarak to all who celebrate! |
Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Pool Reports of July 20, 2021 Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/336820