President of the WHCA: We Won't Call It an Assassination Attempt Unless the Government Does

Let us introduce you to Kelly O’Donnell. She describes herself as in her TSMSFKA Twitter (The Social Media Site Formerly Known as Twitter) profile as:

Senior White House Correspondent @NBCNews President of the White House Correspondents' Association @WHCA '23-'24.

And last night after someone shot Trump, she had this amazing exchange:

Assassination attempt. Seriously, what is wrong with you?
— Melissa Mackenzie (@MelissaTweets) July 14, 2024

Our reporting guidelines require that we not use that term until law enforcement describes it as an assassination attempt if/when the investigation supports that designation. It is a measured approach for accuracy. There will be plenty of time to go further as needed.
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) July 14, 2024

You got that? She is president of an association of journalists and she believes that she can’t figure out if this was an assassination attempt. There were probably fifty cameras on Trump at the moment he was shot, but hey, maybe the shooter was just aiming for his ex-wife and Trump’s ear got in the way. *eye roll*

And worse yet, she will only call it an assassination attempt when big daddy government tells her it was one. You got that? The reality you can see with your own eyes is not reality until the government tells you it is, according to a person who claims with a straight face that she is a journalist.

The President of the White House Correspondents Association says she can’t use words in her reporting until the government says it’s okay to use those words https://t.co/946TuDNXhd
— Sunny (@sunnyright) July 14, 2024

There is no guideline that stops you from reporting what was clearly on video (and backed by dozens of on the record witnesses) just because the government hadn't used the magic words yet.

What a joke. Are you a news organization or stenographers? Don't answer that, we know. https://t.co/cRVxo5IsxY
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) July 14, 2024

American media: "We cannot speak the truth unless it is first approved as such by government officials."

Where's the ghost of Walter Cronkite to beat some sense into these clowns? https://t.co/19TbP8j6Bm
— SeaRaptor (@SeaRaptor) July 14, 2024

Can we see these reporting guidelines?

Are they in a book or are you just kind of making things up like "we don't give the Biden WH questions ahead of time."' https://t.co/Klg1cw6In2
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) July 14, 2024

Based on some totally accurate Googling, we believe that Mr. Miller was a senior advisor for policy and White House director of speechwriting in the first Trump administration. Weirdly, though, his avatar looks nothing like other pictures of him.

Is he trying to catfish someone?

Lol media waiting for ok from government to state the obvious.
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) July 14, 2024

This is the worst week of your career.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) July 14, 2024

So far ... the worse week of her career so far.

You are a useless and pathetic oozing pustule on the ass of humanity, masquerading as a journalist. Maybe find a job better suited to your limited skill set. I hear the train station needs someone to lick clean the toilets.
— Physics Geek (@physicsgeek) July 14, 2024

Don’t hold back, tell us what you really think of her.

“We wait until the government tells us what to say” sums up everything wrong with you cowardly apparatchiks.

For once - just once - in your entire pathetic existence can’t you all just report on what everyone sees?
— IT Guy (@ITGuy1959) July 14, 2024

Seriously, did we wait for the government to tell us that we were under attack on September 11? Or did we figure it out ourselves when the second tower was hit?

When you encounter a strange norm in a profession that you don't practice, the proper response is curiosity. Keyword: Chesterton's Fence https://t.co/tv219BlyKz
— @mrgunn ⏸️ (@mrgunn) July 14, 2024

Gunn is trying to say that we shouldn’t destroy a norm until we understand it. But this is not a norm. If Trump was president again, we know no one would simply believe everything he or his administration said. We wouldn't. The actual norm for reporters is the old saw: “If your mother says she loves you, get a second source.”

“I’m sorry we can’t change the rules once we make them ourselves.”
— Tim Murtaugh (@TimMurtaugh) July 14, 2024

This is serious journalistic Calvinball going on here.

Pathetic response when people in the stands were killed. This wasn't a hunting accident sweetheart.
— Rae A (@xrae) July 14, 2024

I feel like if a bullet hits him in the face it is
— Jarvis (@jarvis_best) July 14, 2024

No, this isn't the Soviet Union. Reality must be the basis of news reporting, not authority or governments. Use your eyes.
— Joe Duarte 🏜️ (@ValidScience) July 14, 2024

Seriously, the notion that a reporter won’t report plain facts without the government’s approval is slavish thinking, unsuited for a free republic.