Stephanie Grisham Says Trump Administration Stopped Press Briefings Because ‘He’s His Own Best Spokesperson’
White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said on Monday that there will not be any daily White House press briefings because previous briefings wound up being made fun of on Saturday Night Live, among other reasons.
As The Daily Beast reports, Grisham stopped by Fox & Friends on Monday morning, her first appearance on the show, and the first time a White House press secretary has appeared on the show since Sarah Huckabee Sanders left the job. Right away, she found a sympathetic audience in the morning news show’s panel, says Daily Beast writer Matt Wilstein, who noted that Steve Doocy said that Trump doesn’t need anyone to speak for him because he’s such a “great communicator.”
Grisham agreed, saying that Trump’s frequent chats with reporters outside the White House are the new daily press briefing, further suggesting that these chats are evidence that Trump is the “most accessible” president ever.
“He’s his own best spokesperson, it’s true,” she said.
The Fox & Friends crew then brought up the fact that previous White House press briefings, particularly those that were managed by Sean Spicer, were fodder for Saturday Night Live skits. Ainsley Earhardt noted that, in the absence of daily White House press briefings, there will be no more snarky SNL skits about them.
“You’ll never have that moment because no longer are we doing that, right?” Earhardt asked.
Grisham confirmed that that is the case, adding that previous press briefings were mostly “theater” and that some reporters were doing it to “get famous,” as Doocy interjected.
White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham has never done a press briefing but she did an appearance on this morning's Fox & Friends pic.twitter.com/ikSKomDKAw
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 23, 2019
Trump has been clear that certain reporters are not welcome in the White House, particularly those who criticize him or who annoy him in other ways. For example, as previously reported by The Inquisitr, Grisham was personally named in a lawsuit filed by Playboy reporter Brian Karem, whose press credentials were revoked after Karem got into a verbal disagreement with former Trump adviser Sebastian Gorka at an event for conservative social media figures in July.
Similarly, at least two reporters who have spent time in White House press briefings, CNN’s Jim Acosta and ABC’s Jonathan Karl, have written books about it.
Back at Fox & Friends, Grisham was asked if Trump took it personally when reporters pressed previous press secretaries for answers. She responded, “Absolutely,” and went on to say that Trump does not want such people around him.
“They weren’t being good to his people. And he doesn’t like that. He’s very loyal to his people, and he put a stop to it,” she said.
