Joe Biden’s first presidential news conference was notable for what was missing after predecessor Donald Trump: no contentious exchanges with reporters, no Fox News and no questions about COVID-19.
The White House press briefing is dead. It was awful, but we should still mourn it. The array of subjects and controversies about which we lack even basic information shows just how much the public is losing because the White House has shut down legitimate, regular inquiries.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has implied that the days of press briefings might be over. In defending the absence of such briefings in recent weeks, she said the media had the opportunity to speak directly with the president in more informal settings.
