Vice President Mike Pence appeared live on several local stations Wednesday in an effort to drum up support for the Obamacare replacement plan.
Showing up on local stations is nothing new for politicians, but the Trump administration seems to be going the extra mile with the introduction of Skype Seats during press briefings and hosting a dinner for local reporters and anchors before the president’s first address to Congress.
Sinclair’s political reporter Scott Thuman, who got the first ever Skype Seat question, interviewed the VP live for the station group off the top of the 6. Stations like WJLA in Washington, D.C. and WBFF in Baltimore had their local anchors do a live toss to the interview.
Other markets had anchors or political reporters interviewing Pence from their studios like Rick Albin from Nexstar’s WOOD in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Alison Latos and Scott Wickersham from Cox-owned WSOC in Charlotte, and Martha Sugalski and Greg Warmoth from Cox’s WFTV in Orlando. Scripps-owned WTMJ in Milwaukee had anchor Charles Benson asking questions, while WEWS in Cleveland put Pence on the defensive after reporter John Kosich (pictured) asked about doubts raised by Ohio Governor John Kasich and Republican Senator Rob Portman about the new plan.
Here is the live interview from Sinclair’s WJLA in Washington, D.C. which called Pence the “explainer-in-chief”:
Here’s the interview from WSOC in Charlotte: