Last weekend, several media outlets reported the Biden Administration forwarded questions to a couple of radio hosts ahead of interviewing the U.S. president. A revelation that is not shocking to most journalists covering politicians these days.

CNN’s Victor Blackwell asked the host of “The Source” in Philadelphia about the interview of Biden.

“I got several questions, eight of them, and the four that were chosen were the ones that I approved,” radio host Andrea Lawful-Sanders told Blackwell.

A Biden campaign spokesperson on Saturday did not deny that the campaign provided questions but said “We do not condition interviews on acceptance of these questions.”

“It’s not at all uncommon practice for interviewees to share topics they would prefer. These questions were relevant to the news of the day — the president was asked about this debate performance as well as what he’d delivered for black Americans,” spokesperson Lauren Hitt said in a statement.

The Biden Administration is currently in crisis mode over president’s debate performance. However, Biden is just following suite of most other Washington politicians.

Politicians — especially politicians running for re-election — strive to control the narrative. Maybe politicians and their staff are scared of potentially embarrassing quotes.

Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Karen Tolkkinen wrote in the Monday edition about her interactions — or attempted interactions — with U.S. Rep. Michelle Fischbach. Tolkkinen wrote about taking an automated call from the Fischbach office touting so-called accomplishments. The recorded office, according to Tolkkinen was not Fischbach’s.

The columnist also wrote about receiving emails from Fischbach through the years working as a journalist. But when she reached out to the congresswoman with questions on the Farm Bill, she received no response.

“Her predecessor, Collin Peterson, had talked to me about federal farm policy for an hour. But I heard nothing back from Fischbach,” Tolkkinen wrote.

During the recent Congressional break, the Fischbach office did reach out to the Independent about Fischbach stopping at the newspaper office during a visit to Marshall. The Fischbach representative requested that the Independent reporter email back questions to be asked during the interview.

Also, on the day of her visit, the Independent was tipped off Fischbach was holding a roundtable discussion with Marshall Chamber of Commerce members. When the Independent reporter showed up at the meeting room entrance she was told she was not allowed in.

Even U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a staunch media ally, is guilty of controlling the narrative on visits to the region. During a 2017 visit to the Ralco Technology Campus in Balaton, Klobuchar refused to answer questions involving national interest.

Tolkkinen is right. Our politicians, for the most part, have closed the door on open-door policies with their constituents. Why are politicians no longer holding public town hall meetings? Prepared to take tough questions from reporters in public settings?

Closing off a roundtable discussion with prominent community members to the reporter of the local newspaper is — in reality — shielding the rest of the community from their representative in Washington. A representative they rarely see or hear from.

Americans deserve more from their representatives in Washington.