White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders kicked off Thursday afternoon’s press briefing running down some of the daily news items from what was clearly (not) an otherwise slow news day, before announcing a “message from a special guest” and asking the pool to turn their attention to the video screens positioned behind her. From there, in a bizarre Wizard of Oz (or Max Headroom) sort of way, the floating head of Donald Trump then appeared to read a pre-recorded message, despite the fact that he was probably just down the hall in another wing of the building at the time of the briefing.
Trump’s head started off bragging once again about his “historic” tax cut, which he claims is already responsible for “major economic gains,” before moving on to boast about all of the companies who gave their employees holiday bonuses, are investing in 401ks, or boosting wages. Making the whole thing even more peculiar, Trump squinted heavily the entire time, as the cameras switched between angles where he was looking straight on at the camera and a side view.
Given that one of the insinuations allegedly found of Michael Wolff’s upcoming tell-all is that the president’s competency is being called into question by those surrounding him, it doesn’t seem as if he did himself any favors by issuing a pre-recorded statement — especially when one of Trump’s widespread criticisms is that he rarely makes media appearances himself.
Many were quick to point these, and other thoughts on Twitter:
Trump makes appearance in briefing room… sort of pic.twitter.com/k7Bs3Iy9Zl
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 4, 2018
Trump appears on the video in the press briefing room, which is maybe 50 yards from the Oval Office.
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) January 4, 2018
Press can't ask questions if he's on video… https://t.co/87qh6gGTvY
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) January 4, 2018
TUESDAY: @PressSec: Trump is "one of the most accessible presidents we've ever had."
THURSDAY: @POTUS beams a video of himself into the press briefing to avoid questions. pic.twitter.com/PQOaw88aOt
— Jesse Lehrich (@JesseLehrich) January 4, 2018
If the President wants to make an appearance in the briefing room in front of reporters he should walk in there. He's down the hall.
— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) January 4, 2018
Trump…who is like 50 feet away from the briefing room…opted to post a video statement shouting at the room of reporters…instead of just showing up himself.
— Angelo Carusone (@GoAngelo) January 4, 2018
It used to be that a President would go to the briefing room when he wanted to make a statement. How embarrassing for this WH that the President is too afraid to face questions.
— Ned Price (@nedprice) January 4, 2018
https://twitter.com/BanditRandom/status/949002213900410885
1/5 To the best of my recollection, @realDonaldTrump has held exactly ONE press conference in the last year that wasn't with another head of state or a Cabinet head to share the brunt of questions. ONE. This is not normal and this is not acceptable.
— Jennifer Hayden (@Scout_Finch) January 4, 2018
https://twitter.com/BayouOwl/status/948999908601708544
Meanwhile, the bulk of questioning for Huckabee Sanders centered around Wolff’s book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, which she dismissed as “tabloid fiction.” Clearly.