Former White House press secretaries from both the Clinton and Bush administrations believe that live daily White House briefings should come to an end.
Ari Fleischer and Mike McCurry, press secretaries for former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, respectively, tweeted Wednesday that they support no live coverage of the White House briefings. The two published an op-ed in January before President Donald Trump’s inauguration that had a very similar message: “We recommend that President-elect Trump keep the press briefing, but no longer make it a live televised event.”
We support no live TV coverage of WH briefing. Embargo it & let it be used, but not as live TV. Better for the public, the WH & the press.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) June 28, 2017
We support no live TV coverage of WH briefing. Embargo it & let it be used, but not as live TV. Better for the public, the WH & the press.
— Mike McCurry (@mmccurry) June 28, 2017
“Too much of the briefing today is a game of ‘gotcha’ and ‘what did the president do wrong?’ A better model would focus on facts and substance,” Fleischer and McCurry wrote in their joint op-ed.
The current White House press team under Trump has been facing criticism for occasionally hosting live off-camera briefings, upsetting many major news organizations and journalists. However, Fleischer and McCurry still hold that off-camera briefings would be better for the public, the White House and the press.
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