White House Correspondents Insider

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

Dan Meyers Joins APCO Worldwide as Senior Director

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Former George W. Bush White House press representative Dan Meyers has joined public affairs consulting firm APCO Worldwide as senior director and head of advocacy. In addition to his White House credentials, he was special assistant to the political director of the Republican National Committee, and a worked as an aide for Rudy Giuliani during his 2008 presidential bid.

Prior to joining APCO, Meyers spent nearly a decade with public affairs firm DCI Group, leaving the organization as Vice President.

Dan Meyers, in a statement, said of APCO, “In an increasingly divided Washington, APCO has a proven track record of finding ways to create political movements to shape and influence policy. The firm has an established history of working on some of the largest and highest profile issue campaigns in the history of the city. I look forward to continuing that with APCO’s dynamic team and ultimately helping clients achieve their goals.”

Read the release here: http://apcoworldwide.com/news/detail/2018/01/10/apco-bolsters-its-advocacy-and-public-affairs-expertise-in-washington-with-new-hire

Masters in Politics Special Edition: Tammy Haddad Goes Inside the Post-Debate Spin Room

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

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

In this special debate edition of Bloomberg’s Masters in Politics podcast Tammy Haddad was in attendance at Monday’s debate and went inside the spin room to interview top campaign officials including Donald Trump himself, former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and Hillary campaign chairman John Podesta. Haddad also interviewed architect of Obama’s 2008 campaign David Plouffe, retired Lieutenant General and current Trump surrogate Mike Flynn, the Clinton campaign’s chief strategist and Masters alum Joel Benenson, and Trump senior advisor Sarah Huckabee.

John Podesta revealed his doubts about whether Trump will appear in subsequent debates saying, “I think we have very substantial questions given his performance tonight. We’ll see whether his campaign holds a meeting tomorrow and says, ‘What’s a way that we can get out of these last two debates?’ We’re very worried about that.”

Former NYC mayor and current Trump supporter Rudy Giuliani blasted Secretary Clinton and defended the controversial stop-and-frisk program, “Mrs. Clinton doesn’t understand the difference because Mrs. Clinton is a phony and you guys don’t get it. She doesn’t understand economics and she had a chance to as Secretary of State. Look at the condition of the world. Do you want more of that? Well then vote for her. I think the American people want a change. She’s a phony as a lawyer and when she said it’s unconstitutional, which is totally incorrect. Stop and frisk is going on right now as we speak all over America. It is approved by the United States Supreme Court and I can give you the entire definition.”

Top strategist to the Clinton campaign Joel Benenson was in the spin room to criticise Trump for his birther comments. “I don’t know what’s worse, the the keeps repeating the lie, whether he really believes it or not, or whether he’s just trying to stoke some kind of racial animosity that he thinks benefits hit. But it’s disgraceful and he continues to do it and it’s shameful.”

You can check out more of Masters in Politics’ coverage from the spin room here.

RNC Day 1: Speakers to Focus on National Security to “Make America Safe Again”

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Photo Courtesy of Haddad Media: CEO of the Creative Coalition Robin Bronk, actor Harry Hamlin, actress Wendie Malick, and Politico's Daniel Lippman

Photo Courtesy of Haddad Media: CEO of the Creative Coalition Robin Bronk, actor Harry Hamlin, actress Wendie Malick, and Politico’s Daniel Lippman

The long awaited Republican National Convention, where Donald Trump will be named the party’s nominee, kicks off today, July 18 in Cleveland, Ohio and runs from Monday through Thursday, July 21.

The RNC’s first-day theme will be “Make America Safe Again,” a play on Donald Trump’s famous campaign slogan “Make America Great Again.” Tonight’s speakers will highlight immigration policy, defense, and counterterrorism policy.

Monday’s speakers include Melania Trump, Rudy Giuliani, actor Scott Baio, Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson, former Texas Governor Rick Perry, Benghazi survivors, Joni Ernst, and Tom Cotton. Pat Smith, the mother of the Benghazi embassy attack victim Sean Smith, will also be speaking as well as survivors Mark Geist and John Tiegen.

Soap-opera actor and model Antonio Sabato, Jr. will be speaking about religion. U.S. Reps. Michael McCaul (R-TX), Sean Duffy (R-WI), and Ryan Zinke (R-MT) also have speaking slots along with Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR), Jeff Sessions (R-AL), and Joni Ernst (R-IA).

You can live stream the entire RNC coverage here.