New York Times Sues Pentagon Over First Amendment Rights

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2. MaddowBlog-The simple reason the latest Pentagon 'press' briefing was so ridiculous

Conservative activists asking a conservative spokesperson conservative questions — for Team Trump, it was the platonic ideal of how journalism should work.

Yesterday’s Pentagon “press” briefing was obviously absurd, but it was emblematic of a larger truth:

For Team Trump, this was the platonic ideal of how journalism should work: conservative ideologues asking conservative questions to a conservative spokesperson. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-12-03T21:25:06.839Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/the-simple-reason-the-latest-pentagon-press-briefing-was-so-ridiculous

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has taken a series of steps this year to undermine journalists who cover the Pentagon, but he broke new ground in September when he told news organizations that reporters won’t be allowed to cover the department unless they agree only to report information, including unclassified information, authorized for release by the Trump administration.....

One week after the correspondents’ exodus, Hegseth’s team has announced the “next generation” of media figures who will now cover the Defense Department, having accepted the administration’s journalistic limits. On Tuesday, they participated in their first briefing.

The New York Times reported:

Kingsley Wilson, the Pentagon’s press secretary, approached the lectern on Tuesday morning. ‘Welcome to the Department of War,’ she said. The greeting was wholly appropriate, considering that Ms. Wilson was speaking to a briefing room of people undergoing something of an orientation program this week at the Pentagon.

The event was akin to a “Saturday Night Live” sketch, except in this case, the caricature was real.

Former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, Donald Trump’s first choice to serve as U.S. attorney general, was among the credentialed “correspondents” on hand for the briefing. He was joined by assorted right-wing activists and personalities, including Laura Loomer.

moments after Matt Gaetz asks a question at the Pentagon press briefing, Laura Loomer gets her turn

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-12-02T16:25:36.736Z

.....Behind the podium was Wilson, who was described earlier this year in a Mother Jones report as “an overt internet troll with a long history of bigoted, xenophobic, and deliberately provocative s—posting.” The Defense Department spokesperson has also been accused of touting antisemitic views and Kremlin-like statements.

On the other side of the podium was a group of Trump supporters who’d agreed to cover the Pentagon on the Pentagon’s terms.

In other words, a press briefing featuring conservative activists asking a conservative spokesperson conservative questions. It wasn’t journalism, but it was entirely in line with what the administration likes to see.