White House Holds Anonymous Briefing On Dishes
One of many complaints by White House reporters has been this White House’s ever-increasing reliance on background briefings (as well as background quotes) in which statements are made for the record, but are not attributable to any individual. Quotes are, instead, cited to a “White House official.”
The practice has become so reflexive that White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest actually bragged about not having a background briefing on the drone strikes that killed an American and an Italian hostage last week. On Monday morning, though, the Office of the First Lady held perhaps the most absurd background briefing to date.
In preparation for the state dinner during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe’s visit, the White House held a special preview in the State Dining Room to unveil the new China pattern, give reporters a chance to photograph the place settings, and to get information about the dinner from a variety of White House staffers, including White House Executive Chef Cris Comerford, White House Executive Pastry Chef Susan Morrison, Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes, and White House Curator William G. Allman.
All of these staffers delivered remarks at the top of the preview, on the record, but the press office informed all reporters in writing beforehand, and again in person at the preview, that all remarks during the Q&A session would be on background only. Why they made that stipulation is anyone’s guess, but since they allowed photography at the event, I’m able to show you this picture of Comerford holding a really fancy salad, which she called “a nod to the classic American Caesar Salad with a Japanese twist, literally. The salad is wrapped in a clear acetate and tied with a Mizuhiki cord emulating a gift to be opened.”
However, I can only report to you that a “White House staffer” told me…READ MORE
Copyright 2015 Liberaland
By: Tommy Christopher
Tommy Christopher is The Daily Banter's White House Correspondent and Political Analyst. He's been a political reporter and liberal commentator since 2007, and has covered the White House since the beginning of the Obama administration, first for PoliticsDaily, and then for Mediaite. Christopher is a frequent guest on a variety of television, radio, and online programs, and was the villain in the documentaries The Audacity of Democracy and Hating Breitbart. He's also That Guy Who Live-Tweeted His Own Heart Attack, and the only person to have ever received public apologies from both Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.
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allison1050 April 28th, 2015 at 05:30
Okay, I didn’t get a dinner invitation so I don’t really care.