Don’t expect White House press briefings to make a comeback anytime soon.
During a segment on “Fox & Friends” Monday morning, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham shot down any hopes for the return of the “daily” press briefings — which have been on hiatus since March — that were previously spearheaded by Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Sean Spicer.
“Ultimately if the President decides that it’s something we should do we can do that, but right now he is doing just fine,” Grisham said, arguing that President Donald Trump is “his own best spokesperson” and “the most accessible President in history.”
Grisham added that “the briefings have become a lot of theater” and agreed with “Fox & Friends” co-hosts Brian Kilmeade and Ainsley Earhardt that reporters were using the briefings to “get famous.”
“[White House reporters] are writing books now,” Grisham said. “I mean, they’re all getting famous off of this presidency and so I think it’s great what we’re doing now.”
When asked whether Trump took the media’s treatment of former White House Press Secretaries Spicer and Sanders “personally,” Grisham responded “absolutely.”
“It’s so important that the spokesperson for the President can adequately speak to his policies and get his message out there, and I think the President saw that’s not what was happening,” Grisham said.
Grisham then clarified that Trump ended the press briefings over his loyalty to his supporters.
“It had become again theater and they weren’t being good to his people and he doesn’t like that,” Grisham said. “He is very loyal to his people and he put a stop to it.”
Watch Grisham’s remarks below:
White House Press Secretary: Trump ended press briefings because reporters "weren't being good to his people. He doesn't like that. He is very loyal to his people and he put a stop to it." pic.twitter.com/Z0OaK6kM2D
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) September 23, 2019
