Donald Trump has by no means been an enormous fan of journalists—except they are saying good issues about him, that’s. His relationship with the press was in all probability significantly better within the days when the one risk he posed to the nation was within the type of a brain-cell-killing actuality present. Since changing into president, nonetheless, the media has been more and more onerous on Trump, and Trump, in flip, has been more and more onerous on the media. Since taking workplace for a second time period, the billionaire has aggressively sought to chip away on the conventional entry that legacy media establishments have sometimes loved. Instead of actual journalists, Trump has sought the corporate of folks like Tim Pool: infotainment podcasters who usually have a surplus of opinions and a deficit of data.
This week, the White Home sank to a brand new low on that entrance, holding a first-of-its-kind “New Media Press Briefing.” Whereas inviting journalists from smaller, much less established retailers to the White Home is ostensibly a good suggestion, that’s not what the administration did. Certainly, as a substitute of inviting precise journalists to the occasion, the White Home populated it with a slew of pleasant influencers who have been all too blissful to kiss the president’s ass and ask White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt the softest of softball questions. It was bullshit questions and bullshit solutions all the way in which down.
Leavitt kicked the briefing off by bragging concerning the administration’s varied “accomplishments” over the previous 100 years, er sorry, I meant days. “As I promised at my first briefing as press secretary again in January, the Trump White Home will converse to all media retailers and personalities—not simply the legacy media who historically has coated this establishment,” Leavitt mentioned.
Leavitt threw one of many first inquiries to a MAGA influencer, Arynne Wexler, who kicked issues off in an appropriately MAGA style: “Thanks a lot, Karoline—each for having us and for granting me the primary query right here,” Wexler mentioned. “And I can attest to the deportations in Florida. My Uber drivers lastly converse English once more, so thanks for that.”
Additionally in attendance was the Ghost of White Home Press Secretary’s Previous, Sean Spicer. For no matter motive, Spicer was invited to be part of the brand new media “press pool,” and took the chance to suck as much as his former boss. “You’ve accomplished an outstanding job opening up the briefing room, bringing in new voices,” mentioned Spicer, who, in 2017, briefly held Leavitt’s place earlier than being firmly booted from the White Home. “The president’s dedication through the marketing campaign to do long-form podcasts was, I believe, extraordinarily useful to this new media setting that we reside in. However a variety of conservatives will ask me, ‘Why does he sit down with folks like Terry Moran of ABC or Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic?’ What’s the rationale behind that rewarding individuals who have very vehemently expressed disdain for him personally?”
Leavitt replied: “The president is unafraid, and he’s impressed by competitors.”
The federal government additionally lately arrange one thing known as “Podcast Row,” a brand new discussion board that lets “creators” ask questions of presidency officers whereas streaming their exhibits reside from the White Home. The personalities included within the first occasion, which is about to be an everyday prevalence, reportedly included Natalie Winters from Steve Bannon’s Battle Room podcast and Breanna Morello, an impartial journalist who beforehand labored for Newsmax.
Additionally, this man was there. The web rapidly dubbed him “MAGA Draco Malfoy.”
a MAGA influencer in immediately’s White Home briefing suggests joe Biden was answerable for rising suicide charges pic.twitter.com/bNZQ8LiNXU
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 29, 2025
