Having Fun In The White House

On Tuesday, The Post Millennial posted an article about “Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Day” at the White House.

The article reports:

On Tuesday, to recognize “Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Day” at the White House, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt took questions from a crowd of kids in the White House briefing room. 

Several questions were fielded by Leavitt, including inquiries about Trump‘s favorite ice cream, whether the president likes to give hugs, as well as President Trump’s favorite soccer player.

This is the link to one of the videos from the briefing room:

These children are incredibly cute!

Hearing The Truth Is Not Always Pleasant

On April 23rd, The Western Journal posted an article about a podcaster, Tim Pool, asking his first question during a White House press briefing. Tim Pool is a 39-year-old podcaster who is described as a “you tuber – journalist.” He is considered right-wing by the mainstream media. His website is timcast.com. Now that the White House Press Conferences are including a wider variety of media, Tim Pool is in attendance.

The article reports:

For those of you wondering why there needed to be a new media seat in the White House press briefing room, leave it to podcaster Tim Pool to elucidate with his first ever question at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

In case you haven’t been keeping up with one of the legacy media’s biggest outrages at the second Donald Trump administration, one of the many changes the press office has made is to include a spot for a “new media” representative during media briefings — “a catchall category that the administration said would include podcasters, social media influencers and other creators of ‘news-related content,’” The New York Times reported in January, a move which they said was part of a series of changes that would upend what it called the “delicate journalistic ecosystem of the White House’s James S. Brady Press Briefing Room.”

And, just to put a finer point on it, here were some of the “new media” participants as per the Times; open and proud liberals didn’t have their sympathies noted, while others were listed as being from “right-wing media,” “right-wing podcast[s]” or “right-wing video platform[s].”

The left never identifies themselves as left-wing. It’s up to the public to figure that out!

This was the question Tim Pool asked:

“Many of the news organization that are represented in this room have marched in lock step on false narratives, such as the ‘very fine people’ hoax, the Covington smear, and now what’s being called the ‘Maryland man’ hoax — where an MS-13 gang member, adjudicated by two different judges, I believe, is just simply being referred to as a ‘Maryland man’ over and over again,” Pool began when called upon by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

“In an effort from the White House to expand access to new companies, you’ve created this ‘new media’ seat. So I’m wondering if you can comment on — following this expansion, you’ve had numerous outlets disparage the companies that you’ve had sit here, as well as the reporters” featured, he added.

“I’m wondering if you can comment on that unprofessional behavior, as well as elaborate on if there’s any plans to expand access to new companies.”

The article continues with the answer:

Leavitt (Karoline Leavitt), barely suppressing a smile, said, “We certainly welcome diverse viewpoints,” which was part of the reason behind the fact “there’s many new faces in this room.”

“We welcome unbiased journalists who really care about the truth and the facts and accuracy,” she continued, noting how the “Maryland father” story — the Kilmar Abrego Garcia deportation, where a man with a history of gang affiliation and brushes with the law that was in the country illegally was sent back to his home country — had been distorted beyond belief. (Abrego Garcia is a “Maryland father” in the same way that Che Guevara was an “Argentine physician” — technically true, but wholly extraneous.)

I think future press briefings are going to be fun! I think the delicate journalistic ecosystem of the White House’s James S. Brady Press Briefing Room” has been upended.

Some Highlights From The April 6 White House Press Briefing

It’s good to know that creative fiction lives. It’s not so good to know that it lives in the White House Press Briefing Room.

Below are parts of the transcript from the April 6 briefing:

…But while it was always the President’s intent to end that war, it is also undeniable that decisions made and the lack of planning done by the previous administration significantly limited options available to him.

President Biden inherited a force presence in Afghanistan of some 2,500 troops. That was the lowest since 2001. He inherited a Special Immigrant Visa program that had been starved of resources. And he inherited a deal struck between the previous administration and the Taliban that called for the complete removal of all U.S. troops by May of 2021 — or else the Taliban, which had stopped its attacks while the deal was in place, would go back to war against the United States.

…And just to remind: We continue to facilitate the safe departures of Americans from Afghanistan when they tell us they are ready to leave. And we have proudly welcomed nearly 100,000 of our Afghan partners and their family members to the United States. Many of these families left Afghanistan after the withdrawal, and they continue to arrive on a regular basis.

Scott Johnson at Power Line Blog also posted an article about the briefing. That article included two Twitter screen shots:

I am amazed.

Do You Believe What You See Or What You Are Told

Yesterday John Hinderaker at Power Line Blog posted an article about the contrast between what is actually happening in America regarding the economic improvement the average American is experiencing and the lens the press is looking through.

The article cited some of the questioning at the White House Press Briefing yesterday:

Q Sarah, two questions. The President said yesterday he was compliant; that he turned over a million documents. If he was compliant with these investigation, why was there a search warrant needed?

SANDERS: This doesn’t have anything to do with the President, and I would refer you to Michael Cohen and his attorney. When it comes to matters of the Special Counsel and dealings with the President, we’ve been fully cooperative.

Q Okay, and the next question. With all of this turmoil, particularly this last week, has the President at any time thought about stepping down before or now?

SANDERS: No. And I think that’s an absolutely ridiculous question.

Q No, it’s not ridiculous. It’s not ridiculous.

SANDERS: I gave you two questions, April. We’re moving on.

Jordan, go ahead.

Q [By April Ryan] It is a legitimate question. It’s not ridiculous.

I am beginning to wonder if we should just do away with the daily White House press briefing. It would be nice if the press would report some of the good things that have happened under President Trump–low unemployment, lower taxes, employee bonuses because of the changes in the tax code, fewer people on food stamps, etc. Where are the questions about these things?