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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHow Canceling White House Press Briefings Is Now Helping Trump Fight Impeachment
How Canceling White House Press Briefings Is Now Helping Trump Fight Impeachment
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/node/86883
It's been nearly 100 days since Donald Trump appointed Stephanie Grisham to be the new White House press secretary, and during that time she has refused to hold a single press briefing. Ripping up decades of protocol and giving up on even the appearance of caring about transparency, the White House now most often communicates with journalists by allowing them to shout half-heard questions at Trump as he makes his way to the Marine One helicopter.
Gutting the White House press briefings is all part of a larger, historic, and incremental effort by the Trump administration to lock out the pressand, by extension, the publicfrom the governments official duties and business. Now the implications are being felt as Trump is mired in an impeachment crisis. And for the White House, not hosting press briefings is a very good thing.
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That's why having public press briefings is even more necessary. Yet under this Republican administration, the press did nothing when former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders faded them from existence, and they did nothing when her successor, Stephanie Grisham, refused to even acknowledge the briefings. And news organizations did nothing when Grisham explained that Trump had canceled the press briefings because reporters were being too darn mean.
"They werent being good to his people. And he doesnt like that. Hes very loyal to his people, and he put a stop to it, she told Fox News last month, as if demurring to White House press secretaries was the job of Beltway journalists.
Unfortunately, the disappearing press briefings became inevitable when the major news organizations failed to stand up to the Trump White House, and instead meekly stood aside and watched the Q&As get gutted. Friendly reminder: When the Obama White House tweaked an access policy in a way news organizations didnt like, they instantly staged a revolt by indignantly, and collectively, demanding a meeting with Democratic administration officials to fix the problem.
There were no emergency meetings called by news organizations when it became obvious the Trump White House press briefings were being extinguished. And today, as impeachment engulfs the president, Republicans are very happy the briefings no longer exist.
Iliyah
(25,111 posts)Regardless, Q&A will abound which makes it much worse.
More Questions tho, which leaves the general public not trustful of this effed up administration, effed up Republican party and effed up illegal person in the WH.
ecstatic
(32,731 posts)consequences for lying and/or purposely misleading (on issues that don't involve national security or classified information)?
Deb
(3,742 posts)Proactively getting the kinks worked out for upcoming daily impeachment updates would be great.