White House press briefing just keeps getting worse
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt used Tuesday’s briefing with reporters to praise right-wing podcaster Tim Pool, who was granted the privilege of asking her the first question of the day.
Pool then proceeded to team up with the White House spokesperson to spew lies about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran immigrant who was abducted due to an “administrative error” by the Trump administration and deported to El Salvador, where he was held in a notorious maximum security prison.
Leavitt gushed in her introduction that Pool has “millions of followers, a very big platform,” and promoted the podcasts that he produces. She described Pool’s guests as having a “diverse range” of opinions but failed to note that Pool has frequently platformed white supremacists.
Pool launched into a tirade about news organizations purportedly promoting “false narratives,” citing reports that President Donald Trump called Nazis “very fine people” (which he did) and the “Maryland man hoax.” Right-wing media and the Trump administration have insisted that Abrego Garcia, who lives in Maryland with his wife and children, is not a “Maryland man.” He is, in fact, a Maryland man and union member who works as a sheet metal apprentice, as well as a father to three children.
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Pool also referred to Abrego Garcia, who has no criminal record, as an MS-13 gang member, but federal Judge Paula Xinis disagreed in a decision handed down on April 6.
“The ‘evidence’ against Abrego Garcia consisted of nothing more than his Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie, and a vague, uncorroborated allegation from a confidential informant claiming he belonged to MS-13’s ‘Western’ clique in New York — a place he has never lived,” Xinis wrote.
Pool then claimed that criticism of the “new media” pro-MAGA outlets that the Trump administration has welcomed to White House briefings is “unprofessional.”
Leavitt, taking the softball pitch from Pool, praised him and other pro-MAGA outlets as “unbiased journalists.” She then reiterated her previous claims that Abrego Garcia was a gang member and “terrorist” who should not be readmitted to the U.S., even though the Supreme Court has determined he should be because he has been denied due process rights in court.
Prior to helping the White House with its spin, Pool was most recently in the news in September 2024 when it was revealed that he and several other conservative podcasters had received payments from a front for the Russian government.
Pool is a conspiracy theorist who has floated debunked theories about COVID-19 lockdowns, among other topics. He once accused a teacher of being a pedophile because she shared a book about LGBTQ people with students.
In addition to hosting white supremacists, Pool has accused “multiculturalism” of playing a role in mass shootings and said women should be shamed based on the number of sexual partners they’ve had.
Pool is a perfect example of the bigoted, serial misinformers that the Trump administration hopes to prioritize in their press briefing room. While platforming these deeply problematic pundits, the administration continues to attack honest reporting and corporate media outlets increasingly bend and twist the news to favor the conservative point of view.
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