To answer your question @froomkin, the nation needs to understand that in a normal universe an on-the-record statement is most credible because a person is less willing to lie with name/ID attached. But in the Trump White House this does not hold true.

The President alone has made 20,000 false statements. His aides – including his doctor - are afraid of Trump’s reaction to how they brief on camera. Mark Meadows said as much on camera yesterday. So this lowers the credibility of whatever they are saying.

The White House doctor is not a credible source on Trump’s condition. White House doctors have not provided trustworthy info on his health or even why he went to Walter Reed last November. He was clearly evasive today in that on-record briefing about oxygen. Discredited.

The fact that the White House doctor just did a briefing like that and then a senior official gave an opposite assessment on background immediately after is not normal.

Background briefings usually elaborate for reporters on what is said on the record. Provide additional detail. Not a complete refutation of what is said on the record. Nation needs to understand that nuance.

The more reliable sourcing on Trump-Covid story in terms of his condition is going to come from doctors in Walter Reed and the conversations he is having with friends outside the hospital. Any White House spokesperson cannot be trusted right now.

You have to grill these officials/cover them. But you have to do so very carefully. No leading off their straight statements. No headlines just quoting the doctor or WH spokesperson like these.

The nation needs to understand the motivations of why officials are saying what they are saying on the record and on background, etc. END