A White House pool reporter says she was knocked off balance Monday when she tried to shout a question about human rights ahead of a meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
ABC News producer Molly Nagle said she tried to shout a question about whether Biden planned to raise human rights in his meeting with Xi in Bali, Indonesia, their first in-person bilateral meeting since Biden took office.
"But I was pulled backwards by my backpack as I shouted by a member of the Chinese group," she wrote in her pool report.
"I stumbled back and then was pushed towards the door, knocking me off my balance though I did not fall down," she said, according to the report.
Nagle said a White House stenographer, who was nearby, told the man, who she said was wearing a white mask featuring a Chinese flag, not to touch her. Another member of the White House staff also approached and told the man not to touch her, either, she wrote in the pool report.
ABC News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The White House said before the meeting that Biden and Xi would "discuss efforts to maintain and deepen lines of communication between the United States and the PRC, responsibly manage competition, and work together where our interests align, especially on transnational challenges that affect the international community." "PRC" stands for the People's Republic of China.
Biden has been overseas for a series of international conferences. He attended the United Nations summit on climate change in Egypt last week and is in Bali for the annual meeting of the Group of 20 leading rich and developing countries.
Xi secured a third term as the leader of China last month. The Chinese government has been accused of human rights violations and genocide against Uyghurs and other ethnic groups. On a video call in May, Xi defended his country’s record to the top human rights official at the U.N.
