A reporter for the Washington Post is calling out the White House over what was a lack of media access to a White House wedding. Naomi Biden, granddaughter of Joe and Jill and daughter of Hunter and his ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, was married on the White House lawn last Saturday. The White House press corps was not allowed to cover the event.
Oddly enough, we’ve reached the point in the Biden administration that some in the media are beginning to publicly criticize Biden and his administration, including the White House press secretary. In this case, Washington Post reporter Ashley Parker is calling out the White House for allowing wedding coverage by Vogue magazine but not the press corps. She said it is a lie that there was no press coverage allowed when Vogue was given access.
This is where I stop and note that the obsession with Vogue by Jill Biden is odd, given her complete lack of fashion sense. Jill has been featured in Vogue and given the cover. She and Naomi were given a spread in Vogue, with Naomi in her wedding dress. Where was Naomi’s mother, I wonder? It seems that the wedding coverage is all about Jill. Also, there was an actual former supermodel living in the White House for four years with a designer wardrobe to die for yet every big fashion magazine ignored her because of her last name. Both Jill and Kamala, neither of whom are fashionable or well-dressed, have been given the star treatment by Vogue. But, I digress.
Vogue was granted access to the bride and her grandmother before the wedding took place. Evidently Vogue wasn’t actually at the wedding but the photos were staged and taken beforehand. Ashley Parker said the distinction is “too cute by half.” Team Biden lies as much as Team Trump did, according to Parker. Did you ever think you would hear that acknowledgement from a Swamp reporter? And, this is the Washington Post.
I spent four years covering the Trump WH and two years covering the Biden WH. What’s fascinating is that they both lie, albeit in v different ways. Trump team was shameless, whereas Biden team is too cute by half. https://t.co/AphB967gHE
— Ashley Parker (@AshleyRParker) November 22, 2022
TO BE CLEAR: Not all lies are created equal and the magnitude, frequency and audacity is certainly different. But the Biden WH, for ex, has also waived us off correct reporting about Biden’s SCOTUS pick, his Egypt trip, attendees in private meetings, etc. https://t.co/8eLW1BMTcZ
— Ashley Parker (@AshleyRParker) November 22, 2022
Reporters are speaking out against Karine Jean-Pierre for the exclusion of reporters.
She and other reporters complained they were told by White House press secretary Karine Jeanne-Pierre that the wedding would be a closed, private affair, only to see Vogue publish a story of exclusive photos of the wedding party.
As the journalists’ ire rained down across Twitter, it was revealed that Vogue photographers did not attend the actual wedding, but instead staged a photo shoot days beforehand.
Parker doubled down on her complaints, saying that the wedding flub was far from the Biden administration’s only lie, and said they had lied about attendees at presidential meetings, and the presidents plans for a recent trip to Egypt.
Nowhere in sight at the ceremony were members of the White House press corps, who had been told by Jeanne-Pierre that they could not attend.
But on Tuesday when Vogue released an article full of photos of the lovers in wedding attire seemingly at the wedding itself, those reporters lashed out at the White House.
I wrote a post about the White House wedding and mentioned that Naomi and her fiance were living at the White House, which I don’t think was common knowledge. Jazz wrote a post about the fact that they were living at the White House. Something is just off there. A Washington Post write-up on the wedding states that their apartment lease was up and so they moved into the White House for a “few months.” Why? Were they planning to move in long-term and didn’t renew their apartment lease or bother to find a new place to live? It’s weird.
Anyway, White House weddings are a big deal and they are rare. Press coverage would not have been unusual at all. Other reporters piled on once Parker tweeted out her criticism. One reporter reminded readers about the tendency of the Bidens to be grifters. Another reporter reminded readers that small lies lead to big ones.
Niels Lesniewski, a correspondent for Roll Call, said the arrangement with Vogue should have been made very clear.
‘I think we all sort of knew this would happen, but if they wouldn’t let the pool photographers in because the rights were sold, we should have known.’
New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman also chimed in, saying small lies can ‘give way to bigger ones.’
‘We cover the small lies politicians tell because they can give way to bigger ones, for folks wondering why this is news. That’s what the press is supposed to do.’
I’ll enjoy the kerfuffle while I can. It’s good to see the White House held accountable, even if it is just over wedding coverage. It’s particularly rich given the fact that Joe Biden made a big deal of declaring that his administration would be the most transparent ever. That statement deserves four Pinocchios.