AMLO’s legacy, Sheinbaum’s burden: why it’s time to scrap mañaneras

President Claudia Sheinbaum at her daily mañanera press conference in Mexico City. Image credit: Sipa US / Alamy.

True to her word, President Claudia Sheinbaum has kept her predecessor’s daily press conference, the mañanera, alive. But after just a month, it’s clear: it’s not working.

Former President López Obrador (AMLO) held around 1,500 mañaneras over six years. For him, these weren’t just press briefings - they were a stage for his unique brand of improvisational political theatre. AMLO used the mañanera to riff on the news, share Mexican history, air personal grievances, and set the day’s agenda. His folksy, unscripted style connected directly with the public. The mañaneras dominated news cycles and built him a fiercely loyal following. For AMLO, they were a powerful tool, boosting his popularity and solidifying his authority.

Sheinbaum wants to keep the tradition going for two reasons. First, she knows her political standing is largely thanks to AMLO. Her success, and survival, depend on managing her relationship with Morena, the party AMLO founded and still dominates. Keeping the mañanera alive helps her establish authority within this fractious party. If she’s going to pursue her own agenda, she needs enough of AMLO’s base on her side. On that point, she’s likely right.

Her second reason is that she hopes the mañanera can help her control the national conversation as it did for AMLO. Here, she’s wrong. Sheinbaum’s mañaneras are proving to be the opposite of AMLO’s. Where AMLO was loose and improvisational, she is scripted and formal. Where he was provocative, she comes across as scolding. Instead of projecting ease, she seems defensive.

Some of this is the added pressure female politicians face to appear “serious” and “professional.” Male politicians often get a pass to be casual and off-handed. But Sheinbaum’s challenges go deeper. Her distant demeanour was overlooked during the campaign due to the opposition’s car crash. She lacks AMLO’s working-class background and doesn’t connect as easily with the Mexican public. Her mañaneras are exposing this gap.

The changes Sheinbaum made to the format aren’t helping. AMLO’s pressers were unpredictable. Reporters followed them closely because they never knew what would happen. Sheinbaum’s, by contrast, are tightly organised. Professional, even. Ironically, this only highlights how out of control things seem beyond the podium.

More damaging still is how these daily appearances hold her back from forming her own identity as a leader. The mañanera was AMLO’s innovation, and it bears his mark. Rather than filling his shoes, Sheinbaum should use her time to develop policy and communicate in ways that suit her style.

When asked about her intense schedule, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II used to say, “I have to be seen to be believed.” But the Queen embodied traits that many Britons idealised. In his way, AMLO did the same for Mexicans. Sheinbaum doesn’t - and that’s not a failing. It’s just reality. In her case, less might be more. Dropping the mañanera could free her to step out from AMLO’s shadow and build a distinct identity. To gain real control of her party, and the country, Sheinbaum will need to do just that.