Yep, one year ago yesterday was the first and only solo press conference by President Donald Trump. Since then we’ve had the occasional photo op, a joint appearance with a world leader (where he takes a couple of questions from friendly Fox) or a deluge of tweets. But has Trump been available, answerable and accountable to the American people? Nope. At least not in the ways it’s been done since, say, Calvin Coolidge. FYI, Coolidge had 92 press conferences in his first year!
During the campaign, Trump mocked Hillary Clinton for going 235 days without holding a formal press conference. Tweeter-in-Chief blew by that mark more than four months ago. According to The Daily Beast, “Trump has gone longer without conducting a formal solo press conference than any president since at least Lyndon Johnson.”
From the Washington Post:
“Presidents also usually hold formal solo news conferences — occasionally even in prime time. Data from the American Presidency Project indicates that no president on record has held fewer solo news conferences in his first year than Trump. Only twice has a president held no news conference in a single year: Ronald Reagan, in the middle of his two terms.”
Barack Obama had 11 solo press conferences in his first year, George W. Bush had five and Bill Clinton, 12. We know Donald Trump loves to talk. So, again we ask, what is he afraid of? From The Daily Beast:
“There’s no better accountability mechanism than the president answering questions directly from the press corps,” a former Obama administration official told The Daily Beast. “That exchange is good for the country, good for democracy, and it’s also good for the White House.”
And, yes we have just a few questions…