Karoline Leavitt, the outgoing White House press secretary, is the embodiment of a presidency unleashed, with little regard for truth or transparency.
Over three decades working in Washington, I have dealt with 20 White House press secretaries, from Dee Dee Myers, the first woman to hold the job, to Leavitt, the youngest person to hold the job and Trump’s fifth press secretary as president. Reporters expect press secretaries to put the best possible gloss on an administration’s policies. But they’re also supposed to provide information that helps reporters accurately explain what the White House is doing.
Under Trump, the role of the White House press secretary has been diminished almost to the point of meaninglessness. Trump often acts as his own spokesman, spewing lies in constant encounters with reporters and in his frequent social media posts. In his first term, his third press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, never even held a formal press briefing. Leavitt, for her part, has shamelessly echoed the president’s favorite falsehoods.
Spin is part of the job. Outright lying is not.
This is a preview of a column by Glenn Kessler. Read the full column here. |
