WH Hits Back At Letter Urging Return Of Briefings: Trump Has ‘Rewritten The Rules Of Politics’

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 20 : Stephanie Grisham, Press Secretary and Communications Director for the First Lady Melania Trump, talks on the phone before President Donald J. Trump arrives to pardon Peas the turkey du... WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 20 : Stephanie Grisham, Press Secretary and Communications Director for the First Lady Melania Trump, talks on the phone before President Donald J. Trump arrives to pardon Peas the turkey during the presentation of the National Thanksgiving turkey in the Rose Garden at the White House on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images) MORE LESS
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White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham still won’t guarantee the return of daily press briefings after 13 former press secretaries argued for them in an open-letter CNN opinion piece Sunday.

The letter published Sunday argues that “the process for preparing for regular briefings makes the government run better” because it “helps ensure that an administration speaks with one voice.”

The letter also argues that regular briefings “force a certain discipline on government decision making,” which, “put another way, no presidents want their briefers to say, day after day, we haven’t figured that one out yet.”

According to an Axios report, Grisham responded to the former secretaries’ letter by saying that “this is groupthink at its finest” and that despite how “the press has unprecedented access to President Trump,” “they continue to complain because they can’t grandstand on TV.”

“They’re not looking for information, they’re looking for a moment,” Grisham said, according to Axios. “This president is unorthodox in everything he’s done. He’s rewritten the rules of politics. His press secretary and everyone else in the administration is reflective of that.”

Grisham then proceeded to rail against the former press secretaries who signed the letter, saying that “they can publicly pile on all they want.”

“It’s unfortunate, because I’ve always felt I was in this small club of only 29 others who really know what I deal with each day, and that was always comforting,” Grisham said, according to Axios. “They may not say it publicly, but they all understand why I do things differently.”

Grisham added that the former press secretaries “know I have three roles” before defending the Trump administration’s decision to stop holding press briefings.

“They know my boss has probably spoken directly to the press more than all of theirs did combined,” Grisham said, according to Axios. “They know the press secretary briefs in the absence of the president, and this president is never absent — a fact that should be celebrated.”

Read the former press secretaries’ open-letter CNN opinion piece here.

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Notable Replies

  1. Wow, now there’s an evergreen article, or at least, headline.

  2. I’m sorry, but press briefings that are nothing but ramblings from his Orangeness with no basis in fact or truth?

    Better off not having them at all. I don’t need to hear from streams of consciousness.

  3. “the process for preparing for regular briefings makes the government run better” because it “helps ensure that an administration speaks with one voice.”

    This would help the Acme of Asshats Administration how? Somebody help me out here.

  4. “They may not say it publicly, but they all understand why I do things differently.”

    Differently? How about doing anything at all? Why are we paying you if you’re not doing anything productive?

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