Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With Allie Bice and Louis Nelson. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Tina Last Sunday as Kabul fell, Secretary of State TONY BLINKEN was the lone Biden administration official to appear on the Sunday Shows, as NBC’s “Meet the Press” and the like are referred to. It didn’t go well, even close Biden allies and people in the State Department admit, although they argued Blinken was put in an untenable position. The administration has since gone into damage control mode, with a flurry of officials and the president himself appearing on television — and a healthy dose of NPR — to defend the administration’s handling of Afghanistan. But as is typical for this White House, communications aides have been very deliberate about which officials they choose to appear on television and which shows are most important. News producers who have requested to interview senior officials like Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN, for example, have received a response from the White House detailing which administration personnel are available for interviews (not Austin, apparently). West Wing Playbook examined which officials the White House chose to put on the air — and which they didn’t — during this particular national security crisis. The White House’s most trusted messenger this week was national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN, who conducted the majority of the White House briefing on Tuesday and appeared on NBC’s “Today,” ABC’s “Good Morning America,” NBC’s “Nightly News,” and CBS’s “Evening News.” Sullivan’s deputy, JON FINER, was also a go-to emissary, with four television appearances this week plus NPR. Some television producers were surprised because Finer had not appeared much on television up until now. One didn’t even know how to spell his name (it’s “Jon,” not “John”). Other officials were not made available for television interviews. Neither Austin nor Gen. MARK MILLEY have popped up for any media hits, though they did a joint press briefing Thursday. Austin will make his first appearance Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” Blinken has not appeared on television since Sunday, though officials told us he may be back on the Sunday Shows this weekend. Blinken, Austin and Vice President KAMALA HARRIS — who also hasn’t done a television interview on Afghanistan — were stationed behind Biden as he addressed reporters about evacuation efforts from Kabul this afternoon. Members of the White House’s press shop like JEN PSAKI and KARINE JEAN-PIERRE have not appeared on television to discuss Afghanistan, either. Outside of the White House briefing, the first person from the White House communications or press team to appear on TV was communications director KATE BEDINGFIELD, who did a pair of interviews this morning. State Department spokesman NED PRICE has yet to be deployed, but his Pentagon counterpart, JOHN KIRBY , has been one of the administration’s leading spokespeople this week, with appearances on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” CNN’s “New Day,” ABC’s “Good Morning America,” and NPR’s “Morning Edition.” Notably, Kirby was the only one to venture onto Fox News — a Thursday appearance on Brett Baier’s show. (Both Kirby and Price have also held on-camera briefings throughout the week.) On Tuesday and Wednesday, the White House pushed out U.N. Ambassador LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, who participated in three TV interviews and one on NPR. Her appearances centered on the plight of Afghan women and girls under Taliban rule and whether the Taliban can be trusted to keep its word. “We will be looking at what this government does, not just what it says,” the ambassador said on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” echoing comments peppered throughout her other interviews. The White House also stays away from the primetime cable shows, with a strong preference for morning shows and network nightly news. The White House’s carefully orchestrated television strategy includes the president himself. Biden has done relatively few lengthy one-on-one interviews thus far, and when he does, it’s often with familiar faces like columnist DAVID BROOKS or ABC’s GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, whom the White House chose to interview Biden this week to address the swirling controversy on Afghanistan. All told, Biden has done two interviews with Stephanopoulos since becoming president, but has yet to agree to a single sit-down with reporters from The New York Times, The Washington Post, or The Wall Street Journal. Reporters and representatives at all three papers confirmed to West Wing Playbook that they have requested such interviews. The White House’s media preferences were evident again on Friday. After days of criticism for not taking questions after his public remarks, Biden answered some at the White House this afternoon — from reporters on a pre-selected list. The Associated Press, Bloomberg, PBS, ABC News, and NPR got to ask questions. The rest of the White House press corps was left shouting questions at the president’s back as he walked swiftly out the door. Do you work in the Biden administration? Are you in touch with the White House? Are you JEFFREY NUSSBAUM? We want to hear from you — and we’ll keep you anonymous: westwingtips@politico.com. Or if you want to stay really anonymous send us a tip through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram, or Whatsapp here. | 
