It's hard to believe now, but a way into the Barack Obama administration, the White House press corps was seriously concerned about the lack of press access to the president. The most transparent administration in history wasn't being so transparent.
Following her debate "victory," Vice President Kamala Harris is back out on the road campaigning (and cackling). But aside from the debate, she's still only done one pre-recorded sit-down interview with CNN's Dana Bash, with her running mate by her side to fill out the 18 minutes. People like Ben Shapiro were keeping a running tally of the number of days since her coronation that Harris had done a press conference. It was well over a month. It's not true that Harris didn't answer reporters' questions, though; she did spend about 44 seconds interacting with the press before boarding Air Force Two one day.
Axios isn't a source we necessarily trust, but they do have the letter in their possession. It looks like the press is losing patience with Harris as well.
New: In an Aug. 28 letter obtained by Axios, the WH News Photographers Association said Harris' team was engaging in an "unprecedented reduction in access.”
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) September 12, 2024
The VP’s team didn’t respond until last night after we asked about the letter
W/ @sarafischer https://t.co/OOch8LDqWX pic.twitter.com/qkl5MaStBr
Axios reports:
Jessica Koscielniak, president of the WHNPA, wrote to Harris' top aides last month protesting that "the four independent news photographer seats have been downgraded to one."
Koscielniak added: "The WHNPA strongly calls on the Harris campaign to reconsider the number of media seats allowed on Air Force 2."
The WHNPA wrote that the group heard the number of seats had to be reduced for security reasons and proposed either adding a "chaser plane" for additional media or the White House Correspondent Association (WHCA) reorganizing who gets a seat.
…
Doug Mills, a veteran White House news photographer speaking in his personal capacity, told Axios that "the current situation puts the still photographers at a distinct disadvantage on every trip."
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"'It's very disappointing," Koscielniak told Axios in responding to the letter. 'This is the smallest number of media to travel for a presidential race in my memory.'"
Remember the gaping gaggle that was on Hillary Clinton's campaign plane?
So, it seems Harris might be hiding out from the press after all, at least until after the election.
The libs first reaction to this is defending the campaign.
— Jim Muessig (@JimMuessig) September 12, 2024
@nytimes @AP @Reuters @elonmusk @AGSNYT @NBCNews @abcnews @CBSNews @
— Andrea E (@AAC0519) September 12, 2024
Media must like being diminished like this. Why else would it tolerate it? It has a platform which could easily have been used to expose this.
Or perhaps it's in cahoots.
Deep State to hide Word Salad like they did to Joe in 2020 ?
— Andrew Fisher (@acpandy) September 12, 2024
The so-called Democratic Party is an insult to democracy
We can understand the campaign not wanting her to talk, but photographs?
The most transparent administration ever
— John Doe🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🇺🇦🇮🇱🇨🇳🇷🇺🇯🇴🌈⚧️✊🏿💉 (@JohnDoeNPC) September 12, 2024
Her entire campaign is complete bullshit , hide and seek.
— Butch Connors (@Butch_1776) September 12, 2024
Democracy dies in darkness.
— MitchGoat70 🇺🇸 (@MitchGoat70) September 12, 2024
@dougmillsnyt speaks softly but carries a big lens: "the current situation puts the still photographers at a distinct disadvantage on every trip."
— HansNichols (@HansNichols) September 12, 2024
August 28 letter? 2 weeks ago, and we’re just hearing about this now. Of course.
— Bonnie O (@bloc1264) September 12, 2024
Wonder what it will take for the media to push back on the lack of access. Doesn’t look like you ever will.
A lot of people in the replies are very angry with Axios for reporting what the White House News Photographers Association wrote. But they're also angry with the press for being so biased in favor of Donald Trump that it's no wonder Harris wouldn't want them around.
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