“We’ll do it again tomorrow,” said President Biden’s press secretary, Jen Psaki, at the close of his first press conference at the White House on Wednesday, and many Americans, regardless of political trends, profession, state or identity, they said: Yes, please.
Others were more than happy to ignore news about the new government – and that was a welcome change. During Trump’s years, many people thought his antics were impossible to ignore.
Despite all the talk and appeals to Trump fans who wanted to see the press being bullied and beaten, most Americans don’t want that. They never did. Most Americans want to know what is real and true so that they can make the best decisions for their families. That’s what Psaki is promising to provide – reliable, regular information – and that’s what the press will insist on.
Biden’s first day and Psaki’s first day sent a message that the functional government is back. Psaki confirmed that he will hold daily briefings. She told reporters in the room that she would sometimes clash with them – we will “disagree”, of course – but that’s okay because “
we have a common goal, who is sharing accurate information with the American people. “
During the press conference, CNN’s Jim Sciutto tweeted, “Here’s the thing: that’s the norm. Receiving questions. Answering questions. Not attacking journalists as enemies of the people. Sometimes fighting. Always challenging. A functional relationship between our government and the media . “
“Working” is a good thing, despite what MAGA media announcers may claim. “To function” is non-partisan. “Operation” means a constant flow of
informative press releases of the White House. “Working” means real information about the president’s calls, rather than bland statements about how he is making “many calls.” Many Republicans knew that Trump’s anti-media attacks were harmful and flinched when his White House was consumed by his own narcissism. They knew that the country deserved better.
“It is simply mesmerizing to watch a functional government do things of the functional governmental type,” Van Jones said after the briefing. “There was a press conference and there was a human, and that person said words, and the words made sense, and someone asked a question and that person answered.”
Competence is the new ineptitude
The Inaugural Presidential Committee had an impeccable series of performances on Wednesday. From Garth Brooks to Amanda Gorman … to Tom Hanks to Sarah Fuller … the day was “as exquisitely choreographed as a Balanchine ballet,” as theater critic WaPo Peter Marks wrote. About the inaugural ceremony, he wrote, “everything sounded perfect.”
“It wasn’t just a transfer of power, it was a profound change in attitude,” David Axelrod told CNN after the fireworks show.
Anderson Cooper summed up the whole day in this way: “They recognized the pain, but they also embraced the promise. They recognized the pain, but they also embraced the greatness of America. And both can exist at the same time – the pain and the promise.”
“How do you and President Biden plan to combat disinformation?”
During his inaugural speech, Biden promised to defend the truth and said the country must unite to “defeat the lies”. At the Psaki meeting, Peter Alexander continued this, asking for details. “The battle for the truth can be as difficult a fight now as the battle against the coronavirus,” he said. “How do you and President Biden plan to combat the misinformation that in many ways led to the attack we witnessed two weeks ago today on Capitol Hill? ‘Psaki said that “there are several ways” to do this, adding that one method is to provide’ accurate information ‘and data to the public …
How affordable will Biden be?
It is too early to know. Hunter WH, Yahoo WH correspondent
observed: “Biden’s team seems to be very eager to avoid the relaxed and noisy sprays of the Oval Office that were part of Trump’s press strategy … Before disappearing after the elections, Trump spoke directly to the press in scrums and sprays with much more often than its predecessors. I suspect that Biden’s team is looking to return to a more traditional engagement, but I imagine it will be difficult to put that genie back in the bottle … “
Make the White House boring again?
“A rational and experienced president will be very, very boring,” former WH chief of staff Leon Panetta told John Dickerson. Writing for The Atlantic, Dickerson said that “a president who tries to fit this mold may not keep the country locked up, but it will be effective.” Three other main lines of your column:
– “The great battle of our time is the struggle between reality and fantasy”.
– “Even the most boring president will not be able to use facts, briefings and patient explanations to totally overcome the incentives of politics and the party media.” But “if a president intends to build bridges with the other party, it will not be through insults and baseless statements that must be accepted on the basis of faith”.
– “Sometimes, getting out of the way, a president can create space for our attention to turn elsewhere.”
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