White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt to skip correspondents dinner

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said she is skipping the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner slated for April 26. 

Leavitt made the announcement during a podcast appearance with Sean Spicer, who served as President Donald Trump’s White House press secretary for the first six months of 2017. 

“I will not be in attendance at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and that’s breaking news for ‘The Sean Spicer Show,’” Leavitt said. 

Leavitt said the WHCA “has truly become a monetized monopoly over the White House and the coverage of the president of the United States in America.” 

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“This is a group of journalists who’ve been covering the White House for decades,” she said on the podcast published Friday. “They started this organization because the presidents at the time were not doing enough press conferences. I don’t think we have that problem anymore under this president, so the priorities of the media have shifted, especially with this new digital age.” 

Leavitt said the WHCA has been an “exclusive group of journalists who cover this White House, they have not really welcomed other people, new media, independent journalists, with open arms, and so we thought it was time to expand the coverage and determine who gets to be part of that 13-person press pool, who gets to ask the president of the United States questions in the Oval Office, aboard Air Force One.” 

“Since we have started this new process of determining the daily rotation, so many new voices and outlets who have never been part of this small and privileged group of journalists have been able to access those very unique and privileged spaces and cover this presidency and that’s very important,” Leavitt added, revealing that the White House has received more than 15,000 applications for the new media seat in the press briefing room. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the WHCA “has truly become a monetized monopoly over the White House and the coverage of the president of the United States in America.” (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

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