White House Correspondents Insider

Behind the scenes of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

Trump Transition in Disarray

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Kristi Clemens Rogers, Mike Rogers at 2016 White House Correspondents' Garden Brunch. Photo courtesy of Haddad Media.

Kristi Clemens Rogers, Mike Rogers at the 2016 White House Correspondents’ Garden Brunch. Photo courtesy of Haddad Media.

After winning the Presidency last week, the Trump campaign shifted focus toward the transition between the current Obama administration and the new incoming one.  However, this pathway has not been as smooth and seamless as past transitions.

The team’s national security advisor, former Congressman Mike Rogers, abruptly resigned from the transition.  He stated that he was “proud of the team that we assembled at Trump for America to produce meaningful policy, personnel and agency action guidance on the complex national security challenges facing our great country.”

In resigning, he handed off his role and all responsibilities to incoming Vice President-elect Mike Pence.

Potential nominees have also made their wishes publicly known on specific positions.  Rudy Giuliani has stated he does not want to be Attorney General, a slot many assumed was going to the former New York City mayor.

Additionally, campaign advisors have dismissed much of the prior work done by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, creating disarray in the team dominated by Trump loyalists.  At least one individual being considered for a Cabinet position by the Christie team has been nixed.  And administrative transition work such as a code of ethics, interviews and written, in-depth questionnaires for potential nominees, and even submitting legally-required paperwork to the government, which allows the transition to officially begin collaborating with the Obama administration.

A statement from White House officials late Monday said that replacing Mr. Christie on the transition team and the lack of a signed document from the current head of the Trump team has frozen the transition process for now.

Masters in Politics: RNC’s Sean Spicer Discusses Trump’s Victory

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In the latest episode of Bloomberg’s Masters in Politics podcast Tammy Haddad and Betsy Fischer Martin interviewed RNC Communications Director and Chief Strategist Sean Spicer, as well as Megan Murphy, the Washington Bureau Chief and Executive Editor of Bloomberg News.

At the start of the podcast, Spicer discussed the reaction inside the campaign and among Republicans across the country following Donald J. Trump’s election as President this week.

“We felt really good. We had strong data. Our turnout numbers for spot on. I think there’s no question that no one saw the totality of this and the magnitude of it. Not just for him but up and down the ballot.  We held the Senate and we held the House, but we picked up states around the country.”

He continued, discussing why Hillary Clinton — seen as inevitable leading up to Election Day — lost her campaign for the White House.  “I don’t think people trusted her. I don’t think they thought she was authentic and I think that she had a set of rules for her and one for everyone else.”

Daniel Lippman, Tammy Haddad, Sean Spicer. Photo courtesy of Haddad Media.

Daniel Lippman, Tammy Haddad, Sean Spicer. Photo courtesy of Haddad Media.

Turning attention to Melania Trump, Spicer described what he saw as her strengths as incoming First Lady.

“I think she’s going to be a very gracious, very strong representative of our country and  when you hear her talk about her story of coming to this country and how much it meant to her, I think she could be such a champion of what it means to come to this country and the values and freedom that we have.”

In the second half of Masters in Politics, Fischer Martin and Haddad discussed the political lay of the land with Washington Bureau Chief and Executive Editor of Bloomberg News Megan Murphy.

Listen to the Masters in Politics Podcast

Media Calls Out Breaches in Protocol by Trump Team

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The Press Room at the debate, Photo Courtesy of Haddad Media

Photo Courtesy of Haddad Media

Donald Trump’s transition team was criticized by the media for two breaches in traditional protocol.  Both incidents centered on the President-elect’s staffers failing to notify reporters of the President-elect’s schedule and Trump travelling without his travelling press corps.

The White House press corps was not informed of Trump’s plans to return to New York Thursday after his first meeting with President Obama after the election.

On “The Situation Room,” CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, a former White House correspondent, noted that “it is truly unacceptable.  The President-elect and the President.  A pool of reporters should be with them on a trip like that.”

Earlier on Thursday, the White House Correspondents’ Association rebuked the President-elect’s team for Trump leaving his travelling press corps in New York as he journeyed to Washington.

“The White House Correspondents’ Association is deeply concerned by President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to reject the practice of traveling with a ‘protective pool’ of reporters for his first visit to Washington since the election,” Jeff Mason, the president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, said on CNNMoney.

Bloomberg Politics Lampoons the Post-Election Hangover

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Bloomberg’s Griffin Hammond, Matt Negrin, and Alexander Trowbridge have teamed up with celebrities and comedians to create “The Day After it Happened”, a satirical take on the post-election blues. The video goes through some of the highlights, and many of the lowlights, of the wildest campaign in modern history, from the deplorables, to Omarosa entering the Spin Room with Mark Cuban.

Some choice quotes from the video: “Why were so many random celebrities involved in this election?” FOX News commentator Bret Baier said of the media’s role in the election, “I think the numbers went down for press approval.”

Summing up the election, Paul Scheer said, “It was like a training sequence from a movie where you never get better, you just keep getting pushed in the dirt.”

The film featured cameos from Mike Murphy, Sheryl Crow, MJ Lee, George Lopez, Michael Steele, Paul Scheer, Brianna Keilar, Tim Miller, Mandy Moore, Boris Epshteyn, Lis Smith, Alex Wagner, and Mark McKinnon.

More here.

Election Day Noshes and Snacks

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Historically, alcohol was prohibited from being sold in many states on Election Day (with South Carolina being the last and final state to repeal the ban in 2014).  But bars and restaurants have always used campaigns as marketing tools as well.

This year, there are plenty of food and drink specials across the District brandishing election-themed delicacies and desserts.  As Jessica Sidman at Washingtonian magazine writes in “Eat The Vote: Which Candidate Has The Superior Food and Drink Specials?,” there are treats for people of every partisan leaning to nosh.

Astro Donuts and Fried Chicken by Metro Center has taken a step into the 2016 campaign by serving both “Trump’s Vanilla Cherry Coke Doughnuts” and “Clinton’s Spicy Hot Chocolate Doughnuts.”

Art and Soul (Washingtonian’s winner of Best of Breakfast and Brunch 2012) is offering cocktails inspired by swing states across the nation.  There you may sip on “The Granite State” with rye, bitters, sugar and an orange slice, or “The Great Lakes” made with bourbon, vermouth and cherry juice.

Or stop in at Bourbon Steak in the Georgetown Four Seasons Hotel for “Freedom fries” cooked in duck fat, complimentary for guests wearing “I Voted” stickers.  While there, be sure to enter their contest to win dinner for two and a night in the Four Seasons’ Presidential Suite.

Even the Dupont seafood haven Hank’s Oyster Bar is getting in on the action.  Serving “Wanna Go to Canada?” poutine and “Bi-Partisan” platters, it seems everyone is sharing in the patriotic spirit this year.

 

The History of Red and Blue

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When America watches Election Day returns tonight, they’ll measure winners and losers using Republican Red against Democratic Blue.  But this hasn’t always been the case.

Philip Bump at the Washington Post provides some background on this color-coordination in his latest piece, Red vs. Blue: A history of how we use political colors.  Many people today would be surprised to realize this partisan designation is a relatively modern development.  As Bump writes:

In 1992, David Nyhan of the Boston Globe wrote of his mixed feelings about Bill Clinton’s candidacy. “[W]hen the anchormen turn to their electronic tote boards election night,” he wrote, “and the red states for Clinton start swamping the blue states for Bush, this will be a strange night for me.” You’ll notice that those colors are backward, by our current understanding. Nyhan is being figurative we can assume, recognizing the standard red-blue split if not the significance of the colors.

Whether your candidate is represented by blue, red, yellow, green, orange or any other color, be sure to utilize your right as an American and vote today!

Washington Post’s Margaret Sullivan Rates the Political Media

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Margaret Sullivan lists out the media’s 13 best moments of Campaign 2016.

“Unfiltered free publicity for Donald Trump. A near-coronation for Hillary Clinton. Paid pundits in the tank for candidates, right and left. False equivalency that put one candidate’s lack of news conferences on a par with another’s racism and misogyny,” she writes.  “Yes, we the media have done all this and more over the past 18 months.”

Take a look at her list of all of the baker’s dozen moments in her article, It Wasn’t All Bad on the Washington Post website.

Sullivan is the Washington Post’s media columnist.  Previously, she was the New York Times public editor, and the chief editor of the Buffalo News, her hometown paper.

Top Emmy Winner HBO Veep star Julia Louis-Dreyfus courts millennial voters

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Cast of VEEP Garden Brunch 2014

Julia Louis-Dreyfus released a special video message to millennial voters in character as Veep’s former President Selina Meyer.

Speaking in a 30-second Rock the Vote public service announcement, Louis-Dreyfus as Meyer, — with help from her onscreen aide Gary Walsh (Tony Hale) — urged America’s youth to hit the polls and vote.

“So, the two reasons I lost: weather, which I can’t control; and millennial apathy, which you can,” Louis-Dreyfus says in the video. “When you don’t vote, you’re giving your power to someone else. Someone probably less informed and more motivated. So please vote, this matters.”

Her assistant Gary asks her if this means she is running again, but she quickly shoots down the option. “Then why do we care?” he asks. “Because of everything I just said,” she snaps.

Millennials continue to have the lowest election participation of any age group. Only about 46 percent voted in the last presidential election; compared to 72 percent of the Silent Generation, who have always had significantly higher rates of voter turnout.

Veep is shooting its sixth season in Los Angeles.

Debate Night: Experts Predict Record Number of Viewers

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The Debate Stage at Hofstra University, Photo Courtesy Hofstra Chronicle

The Debate Stage at Hofstra University, Photo Courtesy Hofstra Chronicle

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are set to face off in the first presidential debate of the 2016 election of at Hofstra University in Long Island, New York, and will be moderated by NBC’s Lester Holt. Experts are suggesting that the worldwide audience for the debate could top 100 million viewers, on par with television spectacles like the Super Bowl, meaning it could generate the biggest debate audience ever. The last time a debate drew an audience of over 80 million viewers was the 1980 presidential debate between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, which remains the most-watched presidential debate ever.

The debate at Hofstra will almost certainly surpass the previous presidential debate’s ratings. In 2012, the three debates between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama averaged around 67 million viewers. Expectations are high that this debate will shatter records. The first Republican primary debate, held in August 2015, was the most watched primary debate ever.

The debate will be available for live stream on more platforms than ever. Aside from all the major cable news channels, social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, as well as Youtube, will make streaming the debate available to their viewers. Subscription streaming service Hulu will also air the event as well as online news outlets such as The Huffington Post and Politico. Reports from cable networks indicate that ad space is sold out for the remaining presidential debates.

You can found out more on the stakes of the debate as well as stream it live here.

EXCLUSIVE: Manafort and Priebus Deny Any Possibility Trump or RNC Hacked

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The Republicans have set up camp in enemy territory at a boxing arena in South Philadelphia where they will host a series of press conferences during the week of the DNC. Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager, Reince Priebus, Chairman of the RNC, and Sean Spicer, Chief Communications Director of the RNC spoke on the record and organized a brief Q&A for the audience. Responding to a question from Tammy Haddad, CEO of Haddad Media, Paul Manafort and Reince Priebus denied any possibility of the Trump campaign or the RNC being hacked.

The theme of their setup was “Enough” complete with dice, cornhole, and other games all “rigged” for Hillary to win as well as a poster with a “setlist” of her scandals dating back to the 1980s.

You can watch the full video here.