It happened. If only for a moment, it happened.
The very thing that so many of us thought we'd never see in our lifetime actually occurred. For about four beautiful, even if fleeting, moments in the White House briefing room on Friday, mainstream media reporters committed an intentional and impressive act of journalism. Real journalism.
Last week, I wrote about Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy's stellar appearance on CNN, where he systematically dressed down the media's continual dereliction of duty. Calling out veteran anchor Dana Bash for expecting him, a rival of Donald Trump, to ask questions about the government's prosecution of the former president, Ramaswamy made his point:
The job of the political media, if it has one job, is to hold the U.S. government accountable.
The observation is precisely correct, which is why it has been so frustrating and annoying to watch the eyes-covered, ears-plugged, mouth-corked, narrative-pushing media act as (1) incurious propagandists for politicians who sport a "D" next to their name, and (2) unforgiving judges, juries, and executioners for those with an "R."
But last Friday, something strange happened at the White House. And when I say strange, I mean The New York Times teaming up with Newsmax to grill the Biden administration press secretary kind of strange. Watch the unlikely scene for yourself:
That whole magnificent interrogation came on the heels of IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley testifying before Congress that the president's son, Hunter, extorted a Chinese business associate named Henry Zhao. Hunter allegedly threatened Zhao by telling him that his dad, President Joe Biden, was sitting beside him and would ensure that Zhao would "regret not following" the First Son's "direction."
To say that Karine Jean-Pierre was ill-prepared for this moment is the understatement of the century. But then again, intellectual honesty demands we acknowledge that there have been few White House press secretaries in history that have ever been less capable of speaking extemporaneously and meaningfully about virtually any issue, even when the "big guy" isn't potentially in such hot water.
But the significant part of this moment wasn't that KJP got "owned" by reporters. Take her stumbling responses out of this entirely, and simply observe what can actually happen when the media does its job. When Newsmax was getting an administrative cold shoulder for asking a completely legitimate question, rather than provide a safety outlet for Jean-Pierre, The New York Times came in as back-up.
When that random act of journalism earned The Times a dismissal, the New York Post stepped in to re-up the same line of legitimate questioning. The press secretary quickly tried to pivot to someone, to anyone else who would be sympathetic to her efforts to duck and dodge. But when CBS was called on, they asked the same questions. Exactly as Vivek said: "hold the U.S. government accountable."
I remain, even in this late hour for the West, a big believer that the role of the media is invaluable and irreplaceable for any free society. Unfortunately, they've been intentionally exchanging their solemn responsibility in order to play the part of ideological activists and lobbyists for decades now.
It was nice to see what's possible – if only for one afternoon.
