The natives in the Fourth Estate are growing restless. A question that has recurred in White House daily briefings this week is when the press will be permitted to inspect the “temporary” detention facilities loving homes that the Biden administration has set up on the southern border. On Wednesday, press secretary Jen Psaki assured reporters, “We remain committed to sharing with all of you data on the number of kids crossing the border, the steps we’re taking, the work we’re doing to open up facilities,” adding that the Biden administration “fully support[s] transparency” and directed members of the press to the Department of Homeland Security for media requests.
But seeing of course is believing, and in that regard news organizations continue to be told “nothing doing.”
After the scrutiny and falsehoods to which the border policies of the previous administration were subjected, which included photographs of kids in cages that were shot during the Obama years, one might be getting a whiff here of a double standard.
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
Then again, maybe not. Democratic Rep. Linda Sanchez (Calif.) was a guest on CNN where she was asked whether she was concerned about the lack of transparency from the administration not allowing any journalists” inside facilities that, in the words of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, “are not meant for children.” You can watch Sanchez’s response in the video that follows.
One striking feature of this interview is the no-nonsense approach taken by the CNN host who questions the congresswoman’s lack of concern for transparency in light of her quite vocal concerns during the Trump years. It may be that 60 days without a solo news conference has hardened the media against Joe Biden. We’ll find out this coming Thursday.
(h/t Weasel Zippers)
