With so numerous vital problems swirling across the political landscape, the press secretarys briefing was dominated by one topic.
It started when NBCs Peter Alexander asked: “Why is the president so supportive of flying the Confederate flag?”
And besides a handful of questions on the coronavirus, reporters followed up again and again and once again.
This was activated by President Trumps Monday tweet, which immediately eclipsed his vacation speeches and prompted such Republican patriots as Lindsey Graham to distance themselves:
” Has @BubbaWallace asked forgiveness to all of those terrific NASCAR motorists & & officials who pertained to his aid, stood by his side, & & were willing to compromise everything for him, only to discover out that the entire thing was simply another HOAX? That & & Flag decision has actually caused least expensive rankings EVER!”
TRUMPS FIERY SPEECHES DRAW ONE-SIDED BARRAGE OF MEDIA CONDEMNATION
A couple of points: NASCARs only fulltime black motorist didnt initiate the probe of a noose found in his stall, which ended up not to have actually been targeted at Bubba. NASCARs ratings arent down. And the president was plainly important of the leagues decision to ban the Confederate flag at its races.
The gush in the briefing room continued:
” Kayleigh, to follow on Peters question, what is the presidents position? Does he believe NASCAR slipped up by prohibiting the Confederate flag?”
McEnany stated “the president stated he wasnt making a judgment one method or the other. Youre focusing on–“.
” But what is his position on it?
“– one word at the really bottom of a tweet thats entirely gotten of context and disregarding the complete rush to judgment on this.”.
National Review Editor Rich Lowry, who slammed media coverage of Trumps July 4 speeches as unfair and unhinged, published this: “Step 1) Deliver an exceptional speech. Action 2) Step all over it with an indefensible and silly tweet.”.
” Im not going to respond to a concern a sixth time.”.
” But you have not answered that question.”.
Thats a reasonable point. The carnage in New York, Chicago and other cities, consisting of fatal shootings of young kids, has been devastating.
Possibly journalists consider urban violence a decades-old tragedy that is restricted to the worst communities. Possibly theyre more concentrated on the pandemic, the economy and the election. Perhaps they dont wish to take on the Democratic mayors who run the majority of these cities. Possibly they find it a dismal and intractable problem.
I didnt get one concern about New York City shootings doubling for the third straight week. Not one concern. I didnt receive one concern about 5 kids who were killed.”.
A few points: NASCARs only fulltime black motorist didnt initiate the probe of a noose discovered in his stall, which turned out not to have actually been targeted at Bubba. And the president was clearly crucial of the leagues choice to prohibit the Confederate flag at its races.
” Has he considered prohibiting the Confederate flag from Trump rallies?”.
” Kayleigh, exactly what does the president view as favorable or uniting then about the Confederate flag?”.
” Why cant this White House unambiguously state whether or not it supports displays of the Confederate flag?”.
Possibly that would change if President Trump tweeted about it more– and proposed some services.
But the White House cant extremely well complain that reporters are developing a distraction when they covering the presidents own words, not when he has actually used Twitter to make significant statements, push policies, attack challengers and otherwise create headlines.
There are numerous well-documented instances of Trump stunning his top aides by tweeting a huge decision that they believed they were still disputing.
SIGN UP FOR HOWIES MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF OF THE DAYS HOTTEST STORIES.
Whats more, the press reporters were irritated by McEnanys duplicated insistence that Trump has no position on displaying Confederate flags.
Many of all, the contretemps reflects the presidents choice to drive the news cycle through Twitter.
Since that social network is the primary method he interacts with his 83 million followers, Trump has the power to change the national conversation with a couple of sentences. In some cases this chokes off favorable coverage he had actually been getting, to the dismay of his advisers, and often it assists him turn the page from unfavorable protection.
” And simply to follow up on the NASCAR thing,” a press reporter checked out the Trump tweet. “How are we misinterpreting that?”.
” But lets drill down on the Confederate flag. Does he think it was an error for NASCAR to ban it?”
There was more:.
” Wasnt he stating that NASCARs rankings were down because they banned the flag? Thats what he said.”.
Now it would be simple to say the media are absolutely consumed with this issue. It fuels the journalistic narrative that the president is stiring white resentment with his attacks on angry mobs and left-wing fascism, not to discuss his risk to veto a major defense costs if it relabels bases that honor Confederate generals.
McEnany, for her part, selected to end the instruction with this scolding of her press corps:.
I didnt get one concern about New York City shootings doubling for the 3rd straight week. I didnt receive one question about 5 children who were killed.”.
