A candidate for press secretary in the Trump administration suggested drug testing the White House press corps to Trump’s transition staffers.
The proposal was one of 13 ideas a candidate for press secretary pitched in November in a confidential memo to members of the Presidential Transition Team’s Executive Committee, the New York Post’s Page Six reported.
“Journalists who are at the White House more than one day per week should be subject to drug screenings to occur no more than twice a year at random times,” the memo states. “Refusal to comply should exclude them from credentialing entirely.”
The candidate, who was not named in the report, did not get the job.
Trump’s eventual pick for press secretary, Sean Spicer, did not voice any support for drug-testing the press corps, but instead supported more traditional security measures.
“I support whatever security measures are recommended by the Secret Service,” he said.
The applicant also proposed taking away the White House Correspondents’ Association’s right to choose seating arrangements for reporters in the briefing room.
The current seating arrangement favors certain newspapers and TV networks over more ideologically diverse outlets.
The applicant also wrote that the Trump administration “should clear a path to communicate more directly with the people and end White House press practices that serve no useful purpose other than feeding the beast.”
The White House mocked President-elect Donald Trump back in October after he jokingly suggested that he and Hillary take a drug test before the next debate, Politico reported.
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