C. J. Cregg and the Illusions of <em>The West Wing</em>

In April 2016, when press briefings were still a regular element of the American presidency’s relationship with the American public, reporters who had gathered in the White House briefing room found themselves addressed by. In place of Josh Earnest, President Obama’s press secretary at the time, a different briefer strode into the room to take the lectern: Allison Janney, who played ’s press secretary, C. J. Cregg. “Josh is out today,” Janney joked, as fact and fiction blurred and reporters went with the gag. The actor, it would turn out, was there to raise awareness about the opioid epidemic in America; after a brief speech on that subject, she was joined by Earnest. The fictional press secretary and the real one jockeyed, jokingly, for the mic. The argument that ended the tussle came from