You know you've picked the wrong debate partner when their comeback is “your mom did” on national television. That catchy phrase therefore becomes an international joke, like a piñata party where everyone’s going to hit it (at some point, it’ll break!). Today’s player is the Press Secretary of the United States of almighty ‘Merica. As far as we know, the position is a bit important within the government. Every statement made is sealed, as the president himself tells it. We could say that there might be a little bit of filters in the messages as our “middle school phrase” is.
So, to enter the national debate team like the government’s cabinet, our press secretary must have an idealistic CV of this high-level profile in terms of linguistics and different forms of communication, oral and written (“your mom did” is a classic example of communication cleverness). She or he must have a profound knowledge of how to deal with the press and media relations; how to brief the president, the cabinet, congressmen and women, and so forth. In this case, we all know what’s happening inside the Oval Office, don’t you? Perhaps there was a specific order from the POTUS to give such a witty answer to the media in the matter to divert from other pending files.
Let's take a quick example of the Press Secretary of the United States of almighty ‘Merica. Within her functions, you'll find:
- Providing information quite often in both informal and formal settings. We don’t know yet the difference between informal and formal in the actual administration of Donald “Toddler” Trump. His secretary tells us quite often that his golfing…
- As said, briefing the president on media issues, and preparing him to handle interviews like the ones that Foxy News does with him? Or when government influencers address questions? We all need a bit of handling of the files, not the “Xs", but the missing ones.
- Scheduling administration officials for interviews. Please check the first bullet point, the Secretary (not press) says the President of the country is golfing!
- Persuading on topics of communication relevance, whatever this means… such as Climate Change, economic disparity, risk of nuclear war… the redesign of the White House; a national ceremony for Charlie Kirk (who?), the gift from the Qatar royal family… and the files? We’re still waiting.
This article is originally published in Rawliterature.