The White House is disputing a report about empty seats at an event, saying the seats were left open on purpose.
In a post from the Rapid Response account, the White House said the seating arrangement was intentional: "The Fake News never stops. Those seats were purposely left empty. Anyone sitting in them would've had their view entirely obstructed by the gigantic press risers in front of them."
The statement directly challenges the premise of the report, which treated the empty seats as notable. According to the account, the seats were not unfilled because of poor attendance — they were held open because the press risers placed in front of them would have blocked the sightlines of anyone seated there.
What the White House Says Happened
The explanation points to the physical layout of the room rather than to any issue with turnout. The press risers — the elevated platforms used by camera crews and photographers — were positioned in front of that section, and the White House says sitting anyone there would have given them a view of the back of the equipment rather than the event itself.
The pushback came in a single post, with the White House framing the coverage as another instance of what it calls fake news.
The dispute is the latest exchange over how the press covers the optics of White House events, with the administration arguing that its seating decisions are practical and that the reporting around them is not.
