The new spokesperson for the State Department was ridiculed by some journalists on social media after she led her first press briefing, relying heavily on a binder of material to answer questions.
Heather Nauert, a former Fox News host, answered questions for about 30 minutes, during which she frequently flipped through a thick binder in an apparent search for specific answers.
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Some in the media remarked on the clunky briefing.
“Heather Nauert? More like Heather Wait-I-need-to-look-through-a-giant-binder-ert!” quipped Will Rahn, an editor for the CBS News website, on Twitter.
Dan Zak, a reporter for The Washington Post, complained that one question related to China led to “30 seconds of flipping through the binder, from which Nauert then reads a boilerplate statement.”
Again a pause (with a smirk and a laugh) as new @statedeptspox searches briefing book for answer to #China human rights question. pic.twitter.com/YEgQEmIgbE
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) June 6, 2017
“Again a pause (with a smirk and a laugh) as new State Department spox searches briefing book for answer to China human rights question,” remarked Steve Herman, White House correspondent for the U.S. government-funded Voice of America.
Nauert told the reporters at the briefing that she planned to host on-camera briefings twice each week.
Until joining the Trump administration, she was a Fox News personality, most recently acting as co-host of the morning “Fox & Friends” show, one of President Trump’s favorite shows.
