Katie Zacharia’s first press briefing was the worst debut in the modern history of presidential press secretary briefings. If Zacharia was going to hold just a 14-minute first briefing, she should not have read from a script that, it seemed, she had never seen before.
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The fact that she only took three questions from conservative outlets was an intentional message from this administration. They have to let the press into the White House, but they don’t have to take their questions.
If reporters want to be called on they had better be “nice” to Trump. Objective journalists with critical questions should not bother raising their hands.
Trump’s pattern of behavior when it comes to press secretaries has already doomed his latest choice.
Even if Zacharia were competent at her job, she is never going to be allowed to do it. Donald Trump has been telling everyone for a decade that he is his own press secretary, and the White House press shop is his Truth Social account.
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