(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) Reporters from legacy media outlets desperately clung to old norms Tuesday as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shook up the briefing room under President Donald Trump.
Channeling the infamous “seat’s taken” scene from Forrest Gump, the Mean Girls of mainstream media scrambled to tell independent journalists, “You can’t sit with us,” just moments before Leavitt open the doors to podcasters, social media influencers, and content creators.
One White House reporter sashayed to the front of the room and demanded that new media members leave their seats if legacy media reporters ask them to vacate what they claimed as their so-called assigned spot, according to News Busters Managing Editor Curtis Houck.
White House reporter gets in front of the room ahead of the first Trump 2.0 press briefing to tell newbies to vacate their seats if someone comes up and asks for it b/c it belongs to them (aka assigned seats) pic.twitter.com/rw0Lmg1905
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 28, 2025
“Before we get started, final reminder, if somebody comes and it is their seat that you’re sitting in, please vacate it for them,” the entitled White House reporter said before begging for unblocked aisles and non-obstructive cellphone use.
Natalie Winters, co-host of Steve Bannon’s War Room, was in the briefing room Tuesday as the show’s White House correspondent.
She said there was an “undercurrent” of mainstream media “scoffing” at her presence, as they seemed not to want journalists like her to join them based on their unblinking stink eyes.
“If anyone form the mainstream press has an issue with me being here or with War Room being here, I will specifically say, you guys have covered up for four years a president who literally was so out to lunch that he wasn’t making any decisions,” Winters said, broadcasting live from in front of the White House.
“To the mainstream media melting down about War Room being in the briefing room, you’re responsible for covering up Joe Biden’s dereliction of duty.
Don’t gaslight the American people that you’ve ever been doing your job well. You deserve to be replaced.” pic.twitter.com/0mrMdJAMVa
— Natalie Winters (@nataliegwinters) January 28, 2025
Leavitt announced the designation of two “new media” seats as soon as she took the podium. The 27-year-old White House press secretary prioritized calling on outlets snubbed by the Biden administration, such Axios and Breitbart, and promised to restore the revoked press credentials of 440 reporters.
“It’s essential to our team that we share President Trump’s message everywhere and adapt this White House to the new media landscape of 2025.” Leavitt said.
Former Daily Wire host Brett Cooper, 23, took to Fox News to express the same sentiment Tuesday night, telling host Jesse Watters that “young people are just hungry for independent voices.”
Brett Cooper, fresh out from the Daily Wire, appears on Fox News for the first time with Jesse Watters. @imbrettcooper
“Young people are just hungry for independent voices.” pic.twitter.com/qjaRJTS8lJ
— Julianna Frieman (@JuliannaFrieman) January 29, 2025
“They don’t want to hear from traditional pundits 24/7,” she told Watters, who jokingly asked if she meant he would be out of a job.
Cooper added, “As Elon says, we are the media now.”
Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by Headline USA, the Daily Caller, The Federalist, and the American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.
