President Trump may hate the media, but his West Wingers sure love Meet the Press.
The longtime Sunday show is where Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani coined the soon-to-be-iconic phrase, "Truth isn't truth." It's where White House counselor Kellyanne Conway invented "alternative facts." And it's one of the many weekend talk shows seeing new life in the Trump era, The Atlantic says.
Sunday morning favorites like Meet the Press and Face the Nation are known for hardball questions and longform interviews. That's exactly why former President Barack Obama's administration avoided them, opting for unconventional press opportunities such as podcasts and comedy shows, The Atlantic points out.
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Trump's ultra-active Twitter feed may suggest he's similarly avoiding the mainstream press, but The Atlantic says that's not quite true. Ex-White House adviser Omarosa Manigault Newman dropped a recording of Chief of Staff John Kelly on Meet the Press, and Conway fired back on ABC's This Week. Those Sunday news bits turn into Monday's headlines and set the agenda for the coming week.
Sunday shows wrap up the previous week in an hour and help viewers fact-check the Trump administration, Face the Nation showrunner Mary Hager tells The Atlantic. This Week showrunner Jonathan Greenberger similarly said Sunday shows have a "mission" to help viewers "make sense of" the current White House. And it all makes Sunday shows "more relevant and more important than ever in the Trump era," Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace tells The Atlantic — porn star lawyers, conflicting White House staffers, and all.
Read more about Sunday morning's revitalization at The Atlantic.
