For more than two weeks now, the White House has banned cameras from its press briefings. Reporters have been pushing back against the ban for some time now, with one even going so far as to break the rules and live stream a portion of Wednesday’s briefing.
There wasn’t any streaming during Thursday’s briefing, but a few reporters did express their frustration over the decision made by deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney to use visual aids during the audio-only meeting.
At one point while she was discussing Mulvaney’s new economic plan, “MAGAnomics,” Sanders directed reporters’ attention to two large screens behind her.
According to Trey Yingst of One America News Network, almost immediately after Sanders pointed to the screens, MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson asked her if the briefing was “still off camera.”
“Is this still off-camera?” NBC’s @HallieJackson asks @SHSanders45 after visuals are put on the White House monitors.
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) July 20, 2017
Associated Press White House reporter Jonathan Lemire took a picture of the monitors as well and shared them on Twitter to let his followers know what they were missing as a result of the no-camera rule.
#MAGAnomics in the off-camera White House press briefing pic.twitter.com/kbL2qC2PLY
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) July 20, 2017
Meanwhile, Bloomberg’s Jennifer Epstein also tweeted about the other visual aids that were used along with the monitors. The presentation also included “stacks of federal registers” from the Obama and Trump administrations. As Epstein noted in her tweet, the props would have been “more effective…on video.”
Mulvaney is using visual aides including stacks of federal registers from Obama &Trump admins. Would’ve been more effective for WH on video.
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) July 20, 2017
Yingst also tweeted a photo of the registers Epstein described in her post.
Mulvaney visuals during the briefing pic.twitter.com/7p0P8UTYzC
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) July 20, 2017
A number of Twitter users have joined Epstein, Yingst, and Lemire in voicing their frustrations over the White House’s ban on cameras, while also laughing at the way the White House’s rule has backfired and hindered the effectiveness of Mulvaney’s presentation.
Featured image via Mark Wilson/Getty Images.
