Catching Up With My Good Friend JD Vance
The message, I learned later, made it all the way to him.
I wanted to keep expectations low on Tuesday.
Vice President JD Vance was expected to be filling in at the White House press briefing for Karoline Leavitt who was still on maternity leave.
I’d already lived through the chaos of the first fill in for Leavitt: Secretary Rubio. The moment the secretary took the lectern, the room turned feral. Reporters jumped out of their seats, shouted each other down and got into arguments over who really got called on by Rubio.
I didn’t get a question. No amount of shouting or hand waving could help my position in the back of the room.
So when the Daily Caller newsroom buzzed about the Vance briefing, and the fact that I’d be in the room, I told them not to expect much.
I arrived at the James S. Brady Briefing Room 30 minutes early. It was already packed, with journalists standing in the aisles. I was armed with my “booster seat” — a cushion that buys me a few more inches over the tall heads in front of me. Then I made my plan.
Every time Vance started winding down an answer, my hand would go up first. Every time he called on someone else, my hand would be the last one down. I was going to be impossible to miss.
It started working.
I noticed the VP’s eyes drifting toward the back of the room. Then he paused mid-scan.
“Is that Reagan all the way in the back there? Daily Caller?”
He squinted and pointed in my direction.
“Yes!” I shouted, unable to keep the shock out of my voice. Through all the chaos, all the shouting, the VP was able to spot me.
“This is great. Awesome. Well, I have a question for you on the Anti-Fraud Task Force…”