Fox News host Dana Perino called out journalists who put on “performances for the cameras” during White House briefings.
And Perino knows a thing or two about the briefing room environment, having served as White House press secretary under President George W. Bush. She criticized the behavior during a discussion on “The Five” following a press briefing by Vice President JD Vance.
Perino highlighted how the addition of cameras to the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room created an environment where the press often looks to create confrontation and viral moments rather than ask questions of substance and perform real reporting.
🚨 NEW: Fox’s @DanaPerino calls out mainstream media for giving “performances for the cameras” in the White House Briefing room after JD Vance just scolded a reporter for grandstanding with a 90-second speech as a ‘question’ pic.twitter.com/d9f0DbCm7L
— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) May 19, 2026
“If you’re a regular in the briefing room, it’s annoying when somebody stands up and gives a speech,” Perino noted, referring back to a moment when Vice President JD Vance called out a reporter for delivering a speech disguised as a question during a press conference.
“What happened? As soon as you brought cameras in, now it’s a performance. And it’s not just a performance at the press secretary position but in the briefing room as well,” she added, noting that reporters looked for a way to “make the news” by grandstanding to get a clip.
Vance called out a reporter mid-way through his query on Tuesday, calling it “a hell of a question,” supposedly about President Donald Trump‘s stock portfolio.
“That was a doozy,” Vance told Andrew Feinberg, the Independent’s White House correspondent.
“Before I answer your question, I want to just observe there are different ways to ask a question,” Vance continued. “You can just ask a question, try and get your answer, or you could do, like, a speech where you say, you know, ‘Mr. Vice President, every — you’re a terrible human being, and so is the president, so is the entire Cabinet, and then I’m like, ‘What’s your question? and then your question is, ‘How dare you!’”
Your periodic reminder that @AndrewFeinberg is a Democrat activist and talentless loser cosplaying as a reporter.@VP dismantles him with ease. pic.twitter.com/ZgBuBnalwJ
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 19, 2026
“Have a little bit of objectivity in the way that you ask these questions, because there were a lot of things in that speech masquerading as a question that didn’t actually get asked,” the vice president pointed out.
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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