LOS ANGELES.–White House Correspondents Association [WHCA] complained about upcoming White House rules to change seating arrangements in the White House James Brady briefing room. WHCA claims it’s trying to remove the Associated Press [AP] from a front row seat in the briefing room, giving it less priority than in years past. “The White House should abandon this wrong-headed effort and show the American people they’re not afraid to explain their policies and field questions from an independent media free from government control,” WHCA said. Has the WHCA gone amnesic when it comes to life under former President Joe Biden? Biden’s press briefings were almost non-existent with the press registering no such complaints. Trump makes himself available for press questions almost daily, a real change from the past administration that virtually black balled the press.
Biden’s handlers refused to give press access because they were doing everything possible to cover-up his cognitive impairments, something the public saw firsthand that the June 27, 2024 debate where he appeared incoherent. It’s still a mystery why his wife Jill and sister Valerie Owen, allowed Joe to debate Trump months before the traditional debate schedule? Democratic National Committee members with busy scheming early on to remove Joe from the 2024 presidential race well before the June 27, 2024 debate. Now the WHCA screams foul fearing that that the seating arrangement could change with the AP taking a back seat. AP has not admitted its egregious anti-Trump bias, prompting a new seating arrangement. AP needs to figure out why its correspondents are so biased. AP was part of the anti-Trump resistance in the 2024 presidential election.
When you look at the body of reporting on Trump in the 2024 campaign, it was universally negative. So, at the home office of AP, it’s an editorial decision to write all stories about Trump with a negative bias. Why the AP think they deserve a seat at the table when they’ve been so untrustworthy, so biased, so anti-Trump? If the AP loses its front row seat in the briefing room, why do they care when the editorial board makes a decision to join the resistance against President Donald Trump. Does the AP want preferential treatment from the White House for writing such distorted, one-sided stories about Trump and his White House? You’d think if they want a front-row seat they’d at least try their best to file nonpartisan, politically neutral reports. WHCA is especially irked at the suggestion that White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt should serve as WHCA president.
WHCA wants journalists to be free to ask whatever questions they deem appropriate in briefings. “The most obvious end result of this reported plan is the punishment, no elevation of journalists, WHCA said in a statement. “We’ll also add the notion of having the White House Press Secretary preside over an independent organization of journalists who are negotiating access with the administration is ridiculous. No board member or official representative of the WHCA has ever put forward such a non-starter suggestion,” said the WHCA. When it came to Biden not speaking to the press, the White House press pool never complained at all. They didn’t find it unusual that the Biden White House kept Biden away from the press for obvious reasons. But when the Trump white house wants to change the seating chart, the WHCA goes ballistic, crying foul with the White House.
Democrats and the fake news have a lot of nerve criticizing the White House for changing a seating chart for White House press briefings. What has the Associated Press done other than criticize Trump since he’s served in public office? Unless the AP can deal with its egregious bias against Trump, they don’t deserve to even be in the briefing room, let alone in the front row. It’s not about getting word out to the public, it’s about keeping egregious bias out of White House press briefings. AP refuses to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America per Trump’s White House order. While that seems petty, it’s no skin off their nose to comply with a presidential order no matter how inconsequential. AP’s CEO Daisy Veerhasingham, formerly with London’s Financial Times, is a good socialist that despises Trump and everything the MAGA movement stands for.
If the AP or any other news outlet wants a front row seat, they should let nonpartisan journalism speak for itself. But no, the AP insists on publishing only the most biased articles on Trump and his White House. “The White House picked this fight and continues to do so,” WHCA said. “Our members want to cover the administration without fear or favor, and stand ready to question government officials from any corner of the Brady Briefing Room. Why is it OK for the AP and other news outlets to report on Trump with such egregious bias but it’s not OK for Trump’s White House to decide the seating chart in the briefing room? If the WHCA wants to restore its own credibility, it should put out a memo to its members to remind them they only accept nonpartisan reporting. Political bias has no place in the White House briefing room or in broadcast or print journalism. WHCA has to stop crying foul when it currently supports outrageously biased reporting.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
