The White House Press Secretary: Truth Bearer or Liar?
The Press Secretary is a role in the United States government that is entirely quintessential in defining the face of a given administration and is key in shaping how the press, and therefore the public view the President. The press secretary serves as the spokesperson for the executive branch and though the role has only been around since 1926, they are undeniably crucial to the functioning of our government.
For some background, the press secretary interacts with the media and the White House press corps on a daily basis, generally in a daily press briefing. By definition, “the press secretary serves by the appointment and at the pleasure of the president of the United States.” Without them, the executive branch would not be able to swiftly communicate between the president, his administration and the media. But in the last administration, the extent to which the press secretary “serves at the pleasure of the president” has been tested relentlessly and today the role is often associated with corruption and a lack of respect for the people to whom the Press Secretary is supposed to serve.
During the Trump Administration, four individuals officially served as press secretary: Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephanie Grisham and Kayleigh McEnany. Trump’s first Press Secretary was Sean Spicer, former Press Secretary to the RNC. Spicer was notorious for beginning his first ever press conference with a blatant lie. He claimed that Trump’s inauguration in 2016 consisted of the largest audience in United States history. However, it is known that Former President Barack Obama’s second inauguration had the biggest crowds in US history. This immediately created a sort of strange dynamic between Spicer, the media, and the people, as many felt that they couldn’t trust him as the person whose sole role in the White House Communications team was to deliver the facts. In fact, within the mere five minutes in which the briefing ensued Spicer told a whopping five lies.
After just six months and one day as Press Secretary, Spicer resigned making room for Sarah Huckabee Sanders, an individual who was probably best well-known for her countless confrontations with White House reporters, an approach that Former President Trump really got behind. Sanders, daughter of former Arkansas governor and Fox News host Mike Huckabee was a loyal defender of everything “Trump” and was beloved by many Republicans at the time for her ruthless nature. In July 2019, Sanders resigned and was sent on her way back to Arkansas with this description of her character by Trump: “a special person, a very, very fine woman.” “She’s a warrior, we’re all warriors, we have to be warriors,” Mr Trump added.
Next was Stephanie Grisham, an individual whose entire time as Press Secretary can best be described as: non-existent. Grisham never held a single White House press briefing (which was one of her sole roles as Press Secretary). During her time at the White House, Grisham fulfilled a variety of positions. The 44-year-old, who joined the Trump campaign in 2016 after serving as a spokeswoman in Arizona Republican politics, first entered the West Wing as a deputy to Spicer but later took on the role of Press Secretary and Communications Director after the resignation of Ms. Huckabee Sanders and firing of Bill Shine, former Communications Director at the White House. It is hard to really pinpoint her performance as Press Secretary or Communications Director, because of how absent she was. That being said, Grisham took on a lot during her time at the White House and once replaced by Kayleigh McEnany as Press Secretary, was appointed Melania Trump’s White House chief of staff. A role that she soon resigned from following the January 6th insurrection. I guess it’s safe to say that Grisham had maybe hit breaking point after being pushed into so many positions.
Last, but definitely not least, was Kayleigh McEnany, a woman that was largely attacked for her incredible ability to lie to the press when things didn’t line up. In fact, when she was fact-checked one too many times by the press, McEnany was known for just walking out of the room. The Harvard Law School grad, “held the position for 10 months, having been appointed in April 2020 following roles as the Republican National Committee spokesperson and a Trump campaign aide.” Similarly to Sanders, McEnany would not tolerate any “bashing” of President Trump and made sure to combat any criticism with a number of blatant lies. She “gained recognition during the 2016 election for frequently appearing as a Trump surrogate on cable news networks,” which would explain this behavior. She engaged in frequent heated debates with news commentators on platforms such as CNN and Fox. And “in March 2017, she apologized on the air after falsely claiming that journalist Daniel Pearl, who was murdered by jihadists in 2002, died while former President Barack Obama was in office.” McEnany’s time in politics and more specifically as Press Secretary is best summarized by the words of CNN Anchor Jake Tapper when referring to a presidential debate between President Biden and Former President Trump, “a hot mess, inside a dumpster fire, inside a train wreck.”
Today, Jen Psaki, an individual with a long history in politics dating back to 2004 when she served in John Kerry’s presidential campaign, was recently appointed as Press Secretary under the Biden Administration and it is quite apparent that she is trying to distance herself from her predecessors in any way that she can. During the very first press conference (on Inauguration day), she made her intentions very clear. “Every day we’re going to try to meet the standard set out by the President in treating others with dignity and respect, with civility, and with a value for others through our words and our actions,” Psaki said. As such, it looks like the next four years of communication between the Executive Branch, the press, and the people is going to be starkly different to the saddening norm that we have all become accustomed to.
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