Make sure to remember this appalling 1-year anniversary

The last time there was a “daily” press briefing by the White House press secretary was March 11, 2019.

That’s right. It has been a FULL year since the press secretary has stood up in front of reporters and fielded their questions. In fact, the current press secretary — Stephanie Grisham — has NEVER held a press briefing, even though she has been on the job since June 2019.

(All of these stats come courtesy of irreplaceable White House producer Allie Malloy.)

While Grisham has never appeared behind the podium at the White House, she has found time to make a slew of appearances on conservative cable TV channels, including regular appearances on Fox News.

This is both appalling and unacceptable. Grisham’s job is to be the liaison between the Trump administration and the public. (The media who cover the White House are simply the mediums by which these messages are transferred.)

And know who pays Grisham’s salary to do the job she isn’t doing? It’s us! The American taxpayer!

But, wait: Trump talks to the press all the time! He takes more questions from the press than any recent president!

That is true. But this is not — or should not be — an either/or proposition. The President can and should talk to the media, and his press secretary should also do so.

The two jobs are quite different. One of Trump’s responsibilities is to deal with the media. But that is THE job of the White House press secretary. It’s right there in the title: “press secretary.”

The sort of daily updates, check-ins and wide-ranging questions that a press secretary can and should handle in a briefing format are very different from the questions a President gets when he stops to speak to the press before jumping on Marine One or Air Force One.

The Point: Whether you are a Republican, a Democrat or hate both parties, the suspension of the daily press briefing should concern you. History has proved time and again that a government not held to account by an active media tends not to best represent the people it is elected to serve.