I've been noticing a common tactic in televised statements by government officials. Like the new special prosecutor Robert Hur.

The person at the podium making the pronouncement (who could also be your city's mayor, a police chief, etc.) has a row of other officials, or unidentified warm bodies, standing behind him/her. Usually they don't take a turn at the mic and are just there for...what? Window dressing? What is this supposed to convey?

Notably, this does not apply to the president, who usually appears alone.

Any ideas on why this is done?

Ooh, good question! I remember noticing it when our state governor would make covid-related announced when the pandemic first started, and he always had a huge freakin' group of people lined up behind. And I was always, what the h3ll? Social distancing unless you're the governor making an announcement??

They always bug me. During the last election cycle, the candidates would often be shown in their ads making speeches in front of what can only be described as a highly curated group.

Lots of different nationalities, genders, etc. They also appeared to be trained to nod or smile at particular parts of the speech.

Another tactic is when the people behind them are somehow relevant to the content of the speech, sort of like the shout-outs that happen in the SOTU speech, only no shouting. I see this a lot when their filming someone signing a piece of legislation.

I am under the impression that it's window dressing in most cases.