There was once no routine shouting by reporters during White House press conferences, though the trend began to change in the mid-1980s when some members of the news media got feisty, including Sam Donaldson, an ABC correspondent who was among the first to call out questions to President Reagan.
The press has been more aggressive with President Trump and his staff than previous administrations; White House press secretary Sarah Sanders is particularly deft in wrangling the press corps when every hand in the room is raised.
CNN’s chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta is among those known for forthright questioning, most recently when he shouted a question at a pivotal moment between Mr. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as the pair signed a historic agreement Monday.
“Some people in the White House press corps do that routinely,” White House counselor Kellyanne Conway told Fox News when questioned about the incident and the behavior of some journalists.
“They want to make things about them. I’m not naming any names — because why give it oxygen? They certainly want to make it about me, myself, and I on Twitter. They’re all a hot mess in the kind of snark and bark towards this president and those who work for him, including here at the White House in the cabinet and elsewhere,” Mrs. Conway continued, noting that aggressive journalists were displaying a new form of “social media muscle and cable news cojones.” This new skill set may not reflect reality, she said.
“This summit was about peace and prosperity. It’s not about that correspondent or another correspondent — and the president didn’t even make it about himself. He made it about a process, he made it about doing something great for the world,” Mrs. Conway said.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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