A right-wing influencer who was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to spread Russian propaganda during the 2024 presidential election has been added to the White House press pool.
The decision comes after the White House stripped the Washington, D.C. press corps of its authority to decide who among its correspondents will be part of the daily rotation of reporters assigned to follow the president.
That opened the door for the White House to bring in sympathetic podcasters and influencers, even as it has banned the Associated Press from participating in the pool or traveling with Air Force One.
Right-wing YouTuber Tim Pool has made it to the White House pool — someone from his “Timcast” channel will be part of today’s pool duty covering the president.
The press pool covers the president up close in the White House and when he travels domestically and abroad.
And since Pool didn’t willingly participate in the scheme, he and the other influencers got to keep the money.
“There’s no rhyme or reason” to the White House’s process for choosing the press pool, the AP’s top Washington photographer told the court. »
