From testy exchanges with reporters to outright silence, the pressure of Joe Biden's US presidential election battle with Donald Trump appears to be straining his relationship with the media.
While the 81-year-old Biden has never shown his predecessor's outright hostility to journalists, the Democrat has recently appeared to lose his cool with the press.
His increasing irritability coincides with a recent rash of polls showing him trailing his scandal-tainted Republican rival with less than six months until the November 5 vote.
The most recent example was a grumpy exchange with a reporter at a White House press conference on Thursday with visiting Kenyan President William Ruto.
Biden called on a reporter who said "two questions, if I may" — to which Biden sharply replied: "No. One." There was laughter in the gilded East Room, but when the reporter tried his luck with his second question Biden made it clear he wasn't joking.
"You guys never keep the deal, but that's ok," said Biden.
Then there have been frequent digs at the media, which Biden and his campaign feel overplay polls that show him doing badly.
Until recently he would stop to answer questions on the way to his helicopter at the White House or under the wing of Air Force One, but those exchanges have largely stopped.
That's partly because Biden has in recent months been surrounded by aides as he walks to the chopper — itself part of a White House strategy to distract from his increasingly unsteady gait amid what it believes is an unfair focus on the media on his age over that of Trump, who is just four years younger.
Biden's frustration has only grown as a series of recent polls show Trump leading him in many key battleground states, despite the Republican spending much of the time in a criminal hush money trial.
During that time his campaign adopted a strategy of "Let Joe Be Joe," which instead of shielding a president who's long been famed for gaffes saw him hit the campaign trail hard and step up full-frontal attacks on "loser" Trump.
Biden's attitude is reflected by his campaign, which has stepped up criticism of the media for failing to notice the positive economic numbers on jobs and growth.
Biden would also be far from the first president who ends up as no fan of the press. From Abraham Lincoln to Barack Obama, many presidents have sought ways around coverage that they think is unfair.
Biden will have a major opportunity to do just that and speak directly to voters in the first of two scheduled presidential debates with Trump on June 27.
His campaign says it's ready, and released an ad narrated by Hollywood legend Robert De Niro on Friday to begin the build-up.
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