The State Department has disputed a Wall Street Journal report that President Biden missed a meeting with German officials to get some sleep.
The WSJ reported Monday that Germany has arranged a meeting between Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Bavarian resort of Schloss Elmau after the G7 summit in June 2022.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived at the evening lounge meeting without Biden present, and reportedly announced that the president couldn’t attend because he had to go to bed, according to two sources who spoke to the Journal.
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President Biden walks on the South Lawn of the White House after returning from a trip to Pennsylvania. (AP/Susan Walsh)
Fox News Digital has reached out to the State Department for comment on the incident.
“That is simply not accurate,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. “Secretary Blinken has never said anything like that or anything similar.”
The State Department issued an identical statement to the WSJ in its initial reporting.
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President Biden speaks with Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a meeting in the East Room of the White House on April 11, 2024. (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)
A source familiar with the 2022 meeting said the gathering in the lounge was informal and Biden was not expected to attend.
Blinken has defended Biden in the weeks since his brutal defeat to former President Trump in the first presidential debate.
Speaking at a Brookings Institution event on July 1, Blinken argued that Biden’s confused behavior during the debate would not cause global observers to abandon their support for Biden.
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken discusses Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during a press conference at the State Department in Washington, DC, March 2, 2022. (REUTERS/Elisabeth Franz/Pool/File Photo)
“They’ve seen a president who has reinvested in America, reinvested America in the world, reinvested in these alliances and partnerships in the ways that they want and want,” Blinken said.
He added that “confidence in American leadership has grown dramatically” during Biden’s presidency.
