Beat the Press

In this administration, everyone pushes back against reporters

Meet the Press began as a weekly show where a group of reporters interviewed a Washington politician, politely taking turns asking questions.

It devolved into the mess you see these days. For years Republicans never pushed back.

That ended with the second Trump presidency. Following their leader, the administration’s top officials are shoving back. Hard.

Press conferences? They hold press confrontations barbecues.

I’ll start with the veep last week.

REPORTER: You said earlier that there’s a left-wing network to attack. If everything you’re saying is true, how does being part of that network justify being shot?”

VANCE: Being part of a network doesn’t justify being shot, but ramming an ICE officer with your car, that’s what justifies being shot.

I’m sorry, guys, what’s going on here? You guys are meant to report the truth! How have you let yourself become agents of propaganda of a radical fringe that’s making it harder for us to enforce our laws?

You just asked me a question that presumed that the reason why this woman died is because she was engaged in legitimate protest. She tried to run somebody over with her car, and the guy defended himself when that happened.

So much for him falling out of favor with our beloved president.

I offer an earlier exchange with America’s favorite hillbilly.

REPORTER: What legal authority were you guys working under?

VANCE: The legal authority is terrorists are bringing drugs into our country.

Comedian Tim Young made a compilation of just some of Vance’s smackdowns.

We will never forget, “I Don’t Really Care, Margaret.”

Next up, the surprisingly good appointee RFK Jr.

REPORTER: Before [the rotavirus] vaccine went into use, there were thousands of kids who were hospitalized every year. Do you really want to go back to those times?

KENNEDY: Well, Rotavirus killed approximately three children a year [in the US]. And I think since the rotavirus vaccine has been recommended, that’s dropped around two children a year. And you’re giving 3 million vaccines. And so to prevent one death, you have to give—

REPORTER INTERRUPTS: Thousands of hospitalizations, which is serious. Right?

KENNEDY: Well, if you’re giving 3 million vaccines to prevent one death, then you have to make sure that the vaccines are not causing any damage. And various rotavirus vaccines have been linked to very, very serious and deadly diseases, including intussusception (when one part of the intestine slides into another like a telescope).

REPORTER: Okay, well, I don’t know that that’s the scientific consensus about the vaccine.

KENNEDY: It was actually withdrawn because of that.

Then he smiled.

Marco “Polo” Rubio—perfect name for a traveling Secretary of State—pushes back too.

MARTHA RADDATZ: Can you name any concessions Putin made?

RUBIO: I wouldn’t name them on your program! Why would I do that?

She’s 72. She should retire. Her face has.

Rubio is an equal opportunity destroyer.

MARGARET BRENNAN: [Vance] was standing in a country where free speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide.

RUBIO: I have to disagree with you. Free speech was not used to conduct a genocide. The genocide was conducted by an authoritarian Nazi regime that happened to also be genocidal because they hated Jews. There was no free speech in Nazi Germany. There was none.

Brennan showed her membership in Journalists Against Free Speech.

She ain’t the brightest diner in the Special Ed lunchroom.

BRENNAN: The defense minister, who has deep ties to Russia, $15 million price on his head. He is still in place. I’m confused. Are they still wanted by the United States? Why didn’t you arrest them if you are taking out the narco terrorist regime?

RUBIO: You’re confused? I don’t know why that’s confusing to you. I mean, it’s very simple.

BRENNAN: They’re still in power!

RUBIO: You’re going to go in and suck up five people? They are already complaining about the one operation! Imagine the howls we would have from everybody else if we actually had to go and stay there four days to capture four other people.

We got the top priority. The number one person on the list was the guy who claimed to be the president of the country that he was not, and he was arrested along with his wife who is also indicted.

That was a sophisticated and frankly, complicated operation. It is not easy to land helicopters in the middle of the largest military base in the country. The guy lived on a military base.

Land within three minutes, kick down his door, grab him, put him in handcuffs, read him his rights, put him in a helicopter and leave the country without losing any American or any American assets. That’s not an easy mission and you’re asking why didn’t we do that in five other places at the same time?

I mean, that’s absurd!

Next up, Trump’s War Consigliere who refuses to accept the media’s premise on anything.

April 21.

HEGSETH: This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees, & they try to slash & burn people & ruin their reputations. Not going to work with me.

December 6.

HEGSETH: Anyone here from the Washington Post? I don’t know where you get your sources, but they suck.

The Queen of the Beatdowns is Karoline Leavitt, who is as Trumpy as a sunrise at Mar-a-Lago.

One example.

REPORTER: The New Yorker had a story yesterday on the vice president, and it questioned his ‘notable absence on Venezuela.’ And the subheadline asked, ‘Was the vice president’s exclusion from the operation in Venezuela an expression of his anti-interventionist ideology or political calculation?’ Would you be able to discuss the vice president’s role in Venezuela policy?

LEAVITT: I did see that report in the New Yorker, and quite frankly, I laughed out loud because it’s very clear it’s a fake report that’s trying to sow distrust and division amongst the president and his team.

Let me just be very clear. The vice president has been involved in all policy. He is the right-hand man of the president on all policy matters, including Venezuela policy. He was, of course, read in and deeply involved in this operation from the very beginning.

And he was present on the night of the operation via secure communication at a different location as to not damage the operational secrecy of this mission that was so incredibly important to ensure that this mission could be carried out successfully without endangering our troops.

Trump’s spokeswoman and his Cabinet secretaries reframe biased questions and push it right back to the reporters.

The press and the administration have a symbiotic relationship. Reporters supply the lies, officials supply the beating. OK, the relationship is more like Bambi Meets Godzilla, but you get the picture.

The Who and Twisted Sister share one thing in common. They both wrote and recorded a song called We’re Not Gonna Take It.

Add the Trump administration to that list because that is what they sing at press conferences.