It has been 78 days since Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton held a press conference or “gaggled” with members of her traveling press, according to reporters who are embedded with her campaign.
Dan Merica, a CNN producer, said it was 76 days on Thursday since the last gaggle. Further, the last time that Clinton even took a question from her traveling press was on Dec. 4 when she was campaigning in Iowa, according to ABC News’ Liz Kreutz.
For this counting (@amychozick): It has been 76 days since Hillary Clinton held a press conference or gaggled with her traveling press.
— Dan Merica (@danmericaCNN) February 18, 2016
“Fact Check: True. (On the night of Friday 12/4, in Fort Dodge, IA, she took 5 questions),” she said in response to a note from CNN’s Merica.
Washington Monthly defines a “press gaggle” as a “more or less off the record” interaction with reporters, the purpose of which is to exchange information. This information can include, among other things, “heads-up on likely topics or early comment on pressing issues, from the news side … always informally.”
Clinton has done none of this in more than three months.
Questions regarding the former secretary of state’s media availability, and how few questions she takes from her travelling press, have been a central theme in the press’ coverage of her second run for the White House.
In April, after Clinton’s first campaign launch, several newsrooms, including Politico, the Washington Post and the Washington Examiner, started to track how little the Democratic candidate made herself available to travelling reporters.
Since jumping into the 2016 Democratic presidential primary, Clinton has participated in several sit-down interviews, and she has taken dozens of questions at town hall events, as noted by Politico’s Hadas Gold. But she still seemed to avoid press conferences and gaggles.
When reporters first started questioning why the candidate so rarely spoke to members of the press, Clinton campaign spokesperson Jesse Ferguson defended her by saying, “If a candidate answers hours of questions from real people on camera but they didn’t come from press, did they happen?”
Not long after, however, the Clinton campaign made an effort adjust to the media criticism, and the former secretary of state made an effort to answer more questions.
But since at least December, it looks like her campaign has slipped back into its old habits, according to the reporters who follow her.
Clinton’s team doesn’t see it that way.
“Since the beginning of December, she’s done over 75 interviews for a total of more than 12 hours, including with those that travel with her, as recently as yesterday,” Clinton press secretary Nick Merrill said in late January, noting that she had sat down for several interviews and taken several questions at town hall events.
“She also took over 500 questions from the public in town halls last year, an ongoing conversation that ranged from how to raise wages to bullying to autism to her faith. That’s a lot of time answering questions, and it’s been an central part of this campaign,” Merrill added.
