The “gaggle” with Sean Spicer, the White House Press Secretary, took place in lieu of his daily briefing and was originally scheduled as an on-camera event. But the White House Press Office announced later in the day that the Q&A session would take place off camera before only an “expanded pool” of journalists, and in Spicer’s West Wing Office as opposed to the James S Brady press briefing room where it is typically held.
Outlets seeking to gain entry whose requests were denied included the Guardian, the New York Times, Politico, CNN, BuzzFeed, the BBC, the Daily Mail and others. Conservative publications such as Breitbart News, the One America News Network and the Washington Times were allowed into the meeting, as well as TV networks CBS, NBC, Fox and ABC. The Associated Press and Time were invited but boycotted the briefing.
The decision to limit access to Spicer, hours after Trump once again declared that much of the media was “the enemy of the American people” while speaking at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, marked a dramatic shift.
While prior administrations have occasionally held background briefings with smaller groups of reporters, it is highly unusual for the White House to cherry-pick which media outlets can participate in what would have otherwise been the Press Secretary’s televised daily briefing. The briefing has become indispensable viewing for journalists trying to interpret the often contradictory statements coming out of the Trump administration, and Spicer’s aggressive handling of the press and delivery of false or misleading statements have already been memorably mocked on NBC’s Saturday Night Live.
“Gaggles” – more informal briefings – with the Press Secretary are traditionally only limited to the pool when they conflict with the President’s travel, in which case they often take place aboard Air Force One. At times, impromptu ‘gaggles’ form with reporters who spend their days in the White House, but denying outlets wishing to participate is extremely uncommon.
Earlier on Friday, Trump continued his assault on the press in a speech before the nation’s largest gathering of conservative activists. He said the press should not be allowed to use anonymous sources, a restriction on free speech he has not suggested before. “You will see stories dry up like you have never seen before,” Trump predicted. This sort of sustained attack on the free press by the leader of the USA is unprecedented and completely uncalled for.
President Trump is incapable of constructing a positive idea for the good of America. He is negative all the way, and all that he is capable of doing is to destroy the values that make America great. The USA has now a Russian Putin in American guise within. The American people have to restrain him before it is too late. The Senate must prepare itself to do what is best for America and too soon.
