It’s usually difficult to separate politicians from the media, but Democratic senators meeting with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh are keeping an arm’s length from reporters.
As The Hill reports, President Donald Trump’s choice for the top court has been meeting with Democrats from conservative states but senators have conveniently forgotten send out media advisories beforehand.
Senators Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va), Joe Donnellly (D-Ind.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) have at least two things in common: they’re all up for reelection this fall and have met with Kavanaugh. All of the legislators also decided to issue a news release after meeting with the judge — providing as few details as possible.
Some may not classify avoidance of the media as a prime political strategy in the age of 24/7 news; even a Manchin spokesman told The Hill that “there was no real thinking behind” the senators’ actions.
Journalists have also wised-up to the game and are actively stalking the media-weary politicians. Manchin reportedly was mobbed by reporters when he made a quick exit from his tete-a-tete with Kavanaugh.
When Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court in 2017, Democrats did not seem to want to conduct their interviews with him under a cone of silence. Back then, the media had much more accessibility before the meeting and were even allowed to take pictures and ask a few questions.
