John Shahidi, who manages popular podcasters like Theo Von and the Nelk Boys, is the driving force behind Donald Trump considering adding a modern twist to the White House Press Briefing room … and he’s telling us how this media landscape-altering idea came about.
John joined us on “TMZ Live” Tuesday and explained why the President-elect seems responsive to his grand idea to credential bro podcasters for the administration’s upcoming daily media briefings.
TMZ.com
Trump hit the podcast circuit hard during the election and John says that helped him gain traction with younger generations of voters, particularly men, who consume podcasts as opposed to traditional news outlets … like the ABCs, CNNs and NBCs of the world.
With Trump elected, John says it makes a bunch of sense for Trump to keep these same folks involved … using podcasters to help deliver the news — and Trump’s message — to people who don’t tune in to mainstream media, and that means getting them press credentials and sending them to the White House for briefings.
John says he pitched Trump on the idea a couple weeks ago at a UFC fight they all attended … and his vision involves a separate media room for podcasters and content creators like Nelk Boys, Theo Von, Adin Ross, Andrew Schulz, Kai Cenat and Patrick Bet-David.
There’s only 49 seats in the W.H. press briefing room and the White House Correspondents Association is responsible for assigning seats … which is why John envisions a different area for the podcast bros.
Theo sounds like he’s open to the idea, telling TMZ … “We bout that s***.”
Podcaster and stand-up comedian Tim Dillon tells TMZ … he’s not been approached and hasn’t heard anything about this possible change. He does note most notable podcasters are also standup comedians who tour leaving little time to attend press briefings. He tells us it would be a lot of fun though.
Of course, this would totally shake up the media dynamic at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue … but John tells us he doesn’t give a crap what mainstream media thinks … and he provides one specific way his guys’ potential Trump coverage would stand out.