White House press briefings are basically reality TV.
They’re built for spicy moments. Reporters use them to deliver monologues or, inexplicably, to audition for a cable news show of their own. For the press secretary, they’re about swatting down “fake news” reporters and skewering the president’s critics.
Which makes it tricky if you’re a reporter who actually wants a real answer.
That wasn’t a problem this week. In fact, on Thursday, I started a feud between the White House and one of the most powerful players in Congress.
While speaking at a rally in Georgia on Wednesday, Trump urged the crowd to call Senate Majority Leader John Thune and pressure him to get the SAVE America Act passed.
Back in May, the president told me he was “disappointed” in Thune for failing to eliminate the filibuster or move the bill forward. But that tension seemed to fade. Shortly after, a source familiar with the president’s thinking told me Trump actually liked Thune — and knew Thune was well-liked by members. It was actually those four or five stubborn senators who wouldn’t get on board that Trump was really frustrated with, the source said.
Wednesday felt different. The president sounded more upset, and this time he was calling on his base to do something about it.
So in the final question of the briefing, I asked Karoline Leavitt about this moment. Was the president’s patience with Thune running thin?
She didn’t hold back:
“The president spoke about this directly yesterday. His patience is running out. He wants to see as much of the SAVE America Act passed as possible by the August recess. He knows that’s what the American people want to see passed. He was just traveling on the road yesterday, spoke about this, and there was very loud applause from the people in the audience, the everyday Americans, because voter ID is common sense. They want proof of citizenship in our elections, and the president feels very strongly about that,” Leavitt said.
“And I would just add, the American people elected Republicans overwhelmingly to lead not just this White House but also the House and the Senate. The House did its job. The Senate needs to do its job too.”
And with that, she ended the briefing.
On my way out, a few reporters high-fived me. You could feel the tension. The answer was newsy. We started to discuss what the next question would be. Would Thune remain in power? Does Trump want him replaced? And at what point does he take more of an active role on Capitol Hill?
Then came a text from my editor:
“Look what you’ve done.”