Brian Glenn, a fringe far-right cable channel host who also happens to be MAGA congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene’s boyfriend, ushered in White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s first press briefing by fawning over how “great” she looked.
The sycophantic greeting came shortly after Leavitt announced the Trump administration was rolling out a new policy that would allow “new media” outlets and social media influencers to have seats in the press briefings, claiming it was because “Americans trust in mass media has fallen to a record low.”
Using her first briefing to boast about Donald Trump’s achievements during his first week in office and justify his recent funding freeze, the 27-year-old Leavitt began her presser on Tuesday by announcing that podcasters and “independent journalists” were welcome to appear in the press room going forward.
Millions of Americans, especially young people, have turned from traditional television outlets and newspapers to consume their news from podcasts, blogs, social media, and other independent outlets,” she said. “It is essential to our team that we share President Trump’s message everywhere and adapt this White House into the new media landscape in 2025.”
Adding that she was reinstating the press privileges of the 440 journalists from dozens of outlets that were “wrongly revoked by the previous administration,” Leavitt continued to scold the “legacy media” while declaring that seats previously occupied by White House staff would now be given to these “new media” groups.
“We are also opening up this briefing room to new media voices who produce news-related content and whose outlet is not already represented by one of the seats in this room,” she said. “We welcome independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers, and content creators to apply for credentials to cover this White House.”
Following his electoral victory, Trump hinted that he would shake up the briefing room and could possibly even replace seats held by mainstream news organizations like The New York Times and Washington Post with MAGA-friendly pundits and podcasters.
Following her “new media” announcement at the top of the briefing, Leavitt called on a number of journalists from right-wing outlets — who generally responded by showering her with praise for giving them an opportunity to ask a question. But none were as obsequious as Glenn.
“You look great — you’re doing a great job,” the Real America’s Voice correspondent exclaimed, prompting a smiling Leavitt to respond: “Thank you!”
Glenn followed up his over-the-top flattery by teeing up a softball question for the Trump flack, which included gushing praise for the president.
“You talked about transparency, and some of us in this room know just how transparent President Trump has been the last five or six years,” he continued. “I think you’ll do the same. But my question is, do you think this latest incident with the President of Colombia is indicative of the global and powerful respect they have for President Trump moving forward not only to engage in economic diplomacy with these countries but also world peace?”
Glenn and Greene have emerged as something of a MAGA power couple since they began dating following the Georgia lawmaker’s divorce in late 2022. Prior to joining RAV last year, Glenn rose to prominence as the director of programming for Right Side Broadcasting Network, a streaming outlet most known for carrying Trump’s rallies and campaign events uninterrupted.
