Story highlights Steve Bannon said "Sean got fatter" in explaining the lack of on-camera White House briefings

Chelsea Clinton did not take the Bannon text as a joke

Washington (CNN) The punchline, for lack of a better word, in a piece in The Atlantic on the much-maligned decay of the White House press is a text message, presumably joking, from White House adviser Steven Bannon to a reporter explaining why Sean Spicer has spent less and less time in front of cameras at the podium.

"Sean got fatter," texted Bannon.

We don't KNOW that Bannon was joking, mind you. He didn't respond to follow-up questions, according to writer Rosie Gray in The Atlantic piece. But treating the question as a joke would be in line with how the Trump administration has generally regarded the press briefings, which have been rarer and rarer and not often in front of cameras. There was one scheduled late Tuesday morning for later in the day.

Chelsea Clinton, the former first daughter whose mother was defeated last November by President Donald Trump, did not take the Bannon text as a joke.

The White House using fat shaming to justify increased opacity. 2017. https://t.co/pWqupoAOXu — Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) June 20, 2017

"The White House using fat shaming to justify increased opacity. 2017," she tweeted.

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