On Monday, at a joint news conference with Justin Trudeau, the president only took two questions from the American press, and neither one touched on the pressing events of the day, namely, National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, and the rather public discussion at a restaurant with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzō Abe on the North Korean missile launch.
Instead, the questions came from reporters Scott Thuman from Sinclair Broadcast Group and Kaitlan Collins of the Daily Caller and were centered on open-ended questions relating to trade, immigration, and national security. Sinclair Group owns the largest number of TV stations in the nation and has hung with Trump since his candidacy began, reports the Washington Post.
The Daily Caller is a conservative website founded by Tucker Carlson, who also hosts a Fox News program. And on Friday, when Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held their joint news conference, they took questions from reporters with the New York Post and Fox Business Channel, both owned by Rupert Murdoch, a staunch Trump ally.
On Wednesday afternoon’s joint press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, Trump called on David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network and Katie Pavlich, the editor of TownHall.com. Giving credit where credit is due, Brody and Pavlich asked pointed questions about Flynn, the Iran nuclear deal, and Israeli settlements, but the answers were totally uninteresting, if not vague.
But I will have to say that the most laughable part of the press conference was Trump’s answer to an Israeli reporter’s question about the “sharp rise in anti-Semitic incidents across the United States.” Trump immediately gave the press a rehash of his Electoral College win, literally pointing out his Jewish daughter and son-in-law and promising that “you’re going to see a lot of love.”
And in another big change, the reporter from Breitbart, the site that was run by Trump’s chief preener Steve Bannon, got a front-row seat in the press section, right beside the big guys like the Associated Press and Reuters. That must have been something to talk about back at the office.
The mainstream media and other press outlets picked up immediately on the change in choosing which reporter would be allowed to ask questions. It makes one wonder if Steve Bannon or someone else has schooled Trump on how to avoid sticking his foot any further down his mouth with the press while trying to answer embarrassing questions.
Whatever Trump’s reasons for avoiding serious questions regarding the ongoing chaos surrounding his administration, we can all rest assured that after his “pep rally” this weekend in Florida, we will be able to start in again on Monday with the sheer lunacy surrounding the goings-on in the White House.
