The host of MSNBC's "AM Joy" tweeted a call for reporters to boycott President Trump's press conference on her official Twitter account Sunday. It came during her panel discussion about White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer's first press conference where he angrily denounced the media.
The tweet quotes journalist Masha Gessen who spoke about her experience covering Vladimir Putin, saying that Trump is using the same tactics he used in Russia to divide the media. Gessen says that fact-checking is not good enough to cover Trump, which spurs Reid to ask, "And what would you suggest? Because I do feel like the media feels flummoxed. What would you suggest that we do differently? "
Gessen answers with the startling suggestion to boycott the briefings:
Well, I mean again there are no easy solutions... I think White House correspondents have to think seriously about whether or not to attend White House briefings anymore. Because if the White House briefing is going to be used to spread disinformation, then what is the point of validating it by going there?
Reid agreed, offering simply, "Yeah."
She vehemently indicated her agreement with the suggestion by adding in call caps on her tweet, "RETWEET TO AGREE." A day later, the tweet has gotten more than 8,500 retweets and 6,000 favorites (at the time of publishing).
Many pundits decried Sean Spicer's tone in the first press conference of the Trump administration Saturday where he took no questions from the media and berated them for two examples of what he perceived as bias. Monday Spicer had a much more traditional press conference where he took many questions and answered candidly. No reporters appeared to take Joy Reid's suggestion to boycott the press briefing.
Carlos Garcia
Staff Writer