Sarah Sanders fades into background as Trump opts to 'engage directly' with media

We have come to bury the White House daily press briefing, not necessarily to praise it.

Under the highly accessible President Trump, televised media briefings by press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sandersin the once-crowded White House press room have dwindled almost out of existence.

After adhering to the traditional five-briefings-per-week schedule early in the administration, the White Housestarted cutting back noticeably on the often-raucous exercises last summer. By August, only a handful of televised question-and-answer sessions were held per month.

In October, there was one briefing.

On Nov. 20, when a live Thanksgiving turkey awaiting a presidential pardon wandered into the White House press room, a journalist joked that the turkey had made more appearances at the press secretary’s podium in November than Mrs. Sanders had. She held her only briefing of the month on Nov. 27.

More