The White House press briefing is such a waste of time.
Nothing is revealed that the White House doesn’t already want the public to know. There are no big “scoops,” no huge revelations. It’s a dog and pony show; an opportunity for reporters to look very serious — heads tilted, brows furrowed — as the cameras broadcast them asking very serious questions guaranteed to be forgotten in roughly 10 minutes.
Consider American Urban Radio Networks’ April Ryan, who asked White House press secretary Sarah Sanders on Tuesday if President Trump has considered resigning.
What is Ryan really expecting with this question? A “yes” answer? Don’t be daft.
“With all of this turmoil, particularly this last week, has the president at any time thought about stepping down before or now?” Ryan asked.
Sanders responded, “No, and I think that’s an absolutely ridiculous question.”
To this, Ryan responded, “It’s not ridiculous.”
No, Sanders is most certainly correct. It is a ridiculous question.
The Trump administration does indeed seem to be in the throes of real chaos. The FBI raided the president’s personal lawyer’s office this week, and then there’s the question of the White House’s looming response to Syria’s reported war crimes. There’s also the issue of the administration’s extremely high turnover rate, and the continuing special counsel investigation into Russia’s reported interference in the 2016 presidential election.
It’s extremely unlikely, however, that Trump will be “stepping down” this week or anytime soon. More importantly, even if the president were planning something like this, there’s no version of reality where this is mentioned first at a White House press briefing. There’s no chance this news is broken exclusively by Sanders. It’s a wasted question, and a waste of time.
You get only a few at-bats at any given White House press briefing. Best not to waste them on questions that are definitely not going to be answered in any sort of meaningful or newsworthy manner.
