Trump plans to cut daily coronavirus briefings

Axios ^ | 4/24/20 32 minutes ago | Jonathan Swan

[conservative98]

President Trump plans to pare back his coronavirus press conferences, according to four sources familiar with the internal deliberations.

• He may stop appearing daily and make shorter appearances when he does, the sources said — a practice that may have started with Friday's unusually short briefing.

Why this matters: Trump's daily press conferences — televised to a largely homebound population — have dominated the public discourse about the coronavirus.

Behind the scenes: A number of Trump's most trusted advisers — both inside and outside the White House — have urged him to stop doing marathon televised briefings.

• They've told him he's overexposed and these appearances are part of the reason polls aren't looking good for him right now against Joe Biden.
• "I told him it's not helping him," said one adviser to the president. "Seniors are scared. And the spectacle of him fighting with the press isn't what people want to see."

But Trump has defended the practice, telling critics that the briefings get good ratings.

• One source cautioned that decisions like this one are never final until they're final.
• A senior administration official involved in the discussions said: "He should keep everyone guessing as to whether he appears day by day. And leave the technical briefings to others. Be there to announce victories."

[hinckley buzzard]

I like his briefings but I have been of the mind that he risks overexposure. He needs to make it a little more of an event when he shows up in person. He does not need the daily squabbles with the press. He’s made his point pretty well vis-a-vis the media.

[Vermont Lt]

Ten minutes. Then hand it over to Pence. 10 minutes. Then 5 minutes of questions.

Work towards 15 minutes total.

The BS with the media that wants to kill him is killing him.

[escapefromboston]

Too bad it was my parents favorite “show” since they cancelled Who Wants to be a Millionaire in the afternoon. Though I get why he did it

[steve86]

Thank God.

[conservative98]

Also, remember the Democrat Party-media said they didn’t want to show these briefings anymore anyway. Now that Trump may be cutting them, watch them rip him.

[LouieFisk]

“It’s starting to feel like Groundhogs Day. I say once every 3 or 4 days now is plenty.”
—
What happened to the weekly radio address that presidents used to do? That would do the trick.

[RoseofTexas]

You mean the fake polls?!!!! Pfft..Pleaseeee! If you really want to believe polls get the best info from Richard Baris an honest pollster instead of believing the globalist hired pollsters!! FOX NEWS IS THE WORSE POLL!!

[chris37]

I only want to hear from the President and the Vice President.

I don’t need to hear from the doctors at all. Trump can listen to them.

I don’t need to hear, see or smell the media AT ALL.

If the president would like to reduce frequency, that is fine.

[Sacajaweau]

BS...I’m 76. The President/staff are the only positive persons around.

[AndyJackson]

A member of the WH press corps, a very senior member.

[Berlin_Freeper]

You can believe the GOP is behind this and Rachel Maddow wants the opposite.

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

I’m sick of her and the midget’s “word salad”. They say NOTHING. And the gesticulating with “curves”. Ugh.

[backwoods-engineer]

I stopped watching them about 2 weeks ago. Once it was clear that Team Scarf was in charge, and that the country was going to plunge into a 2nd Great Depression and Team Scarf was totally OK with that, I stopped watching.

[DIRTYSECRET]

I tune in when the Q & A begins. Not always at a knowable time.

[lee martell]

I hope he takes that advice. We shall see.

[willk]

Yesterday’s was awful. He needs to keep up the positive stuff but quit the fighting with the enemedia. Let them show themselves for what they are. He is the President not a World Wrestling Federation champion.

[sheehan]

I suspect Kellyanne is involved with this advice...

I think this is smart - Trump should show up to declare victories, achievements or important milestones...

He also needs to get out of DC and out to the field, back on the stump... visit a few factories, meet workers, etc.

[blackberry1]

Trumps base was getting weary of the dog and pony show. He finally listened.

[rfp1234]

POTUS should remain active on all fronts, rather than being consumed by COVID "a' la Carter with the hostages".

Something big may break on Spygate next week. No links, just a hunch.

[rfp1234]

Dukakis led Bush by 17 points.