00:00questions from all of you. Let me start here with Nick, who I believe is in the new media chair.
00:05Nick, what do you got for me? Thanks, Mr. Vice President. Today is the first White House press
00:09briefing since the departure of the great Caroline Levitt. A key part of her legacy,
00:14defining part, was bringing more voices, not less, into this room, and that's something our
00:18founder, Andrew Breitbart, certainly believed in. From the first briefing, she added this seat,
00:23the new media seat that I'm in today. What does the President, what to you, and what does the
00:28White House plan to do to continue that legacy and to empower new media? Sure, so before I answer
00:34that question, let me just say a word about Caroline Levitt, who is an amazing person, an amazing
00:38mom, was an amazing colleague here at the White House, and was not just a person who stood up here
00:42and answered your questions, and I think did so admirably, but was also just an amazing part of
00:48the very cohesive team that we had working here in the West Wing. Just an amazing person. She texted
00:53me this morning and wished me good luck, because obviously going up against all of you is very,
00:58very dangerous business, but she's going to do great in whatever she does next, and we're
01:03very grateful to her. So Caroline, if you're watching, which hopefully you're not, but if
01:08you're watching, thank you for your service, thank you for your friendship, and thanks for
01:11doing a great job. And yes, one of her legacies, one of her many legacies, I would say, is that
01:16she opened up this room to non-legacy media. And why does that matter? I mean, if you look at
01:21one of the biggest transformations that have existed in this country over the last 20 or 30 years,
01:26it's the rise of digital technology. Now, that means a lot of different things for a lot of
01:29different people. But for this industry, what it's meant is that a lot of people have been able to
01:34get access to information, have been able to get access to telling stories to the American people,
01:40not because they have a credential or not because they have a connection, but because they have
01:44something interesting to say. And I would certainly put you in that category, Nick, and obviously
01:47our friends at Breitbart. But for too long, this room, and I think this city have tried to lock
01:54out non-legacy media. They've seen it as a threat to themselves. And we actually think that it's an
01:59amazing way to democratize access to information. You should not have to have a fancy credential or a
02:05lot of money to tell a story to the American people. And if you think of like the heart of
02:09the
02:09First Amendment is that all of us are allowed to speak. But if only some people are actually given
02:14a microphone, if only some media outlets are actually given access, then it strikes not just to
02:19the heart of your ability to tell a story, it actually makes it harder for people to get access to
02:24their First Amendment rights. And, you know, with all due respect to all the people in this room,
02:28there were a lot of Americans who felt like they were not properly represented by the information
02:33that was on the airwaves of the traditional media. So we're going to stay committed to that legacy.
02:37We're going to build on that legacy. And I think that you and a lot of other new media types
02:41should certainly expect to have a lot of access in the months and years to come, just as the
02:47traditional media does. And I do think, you know, not to brag on my boss too much, but I do
02:53think
02:53the president has set us about to be the most transparent administration in history. And we
02:58have done that with flying colors. If you just look back to the last administration, I mean,
03:04even the Democrats in the room, and I know you guys, if you're being honest, most of you are
03:08Democrats, you would have to admit that the level of access, the level of access to the president
03:13of the United States, the vice president, the senior team here, it's just completely off the charts.
03:17Now, why does the president do that? He doesn't do it just because, you know, he wants to,
03:22or it's fun, though I think he definitely has a little bit of fun with it. He does it
03:25because he believes that part of governing a constitutional republic is to make
03:29yourselves accessible to the American people. So we do that. And we're going to do that
03:33with non-traditional media. We'll continue to do it with traditional media. And that
03:37will certainly be a big part of our approach as we continue to govern the country. And I
03:40think govern it well. Great. Peter.
03:43The Pressure
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