That Just Went From Bad to Worse: Major Media Outlets Have Been Banned From White House Press Briefings

.@jaketapper: “The White House does not value an independent press. There is a word for that: Un-American.” https://t.co/iq7Ka3PPFd pic.twitter.com/GQLPAzRgMw

— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) February 24, 2017

Just as we were discussing Donald Trump’s many attacks on the press earlier today, yet another one was happening. A number of major news outlets, including CNN, the New York Times, Politico, BuzzFeed, The Hill, and the Los Angeles Times were all barred from Friday’s press briefing.

Instead of the regular televised briefing, Sean Spicer held a closed-door, off-camera “gaggle” with a much smaller group of hand-selected outlets. Those included–no surprises here–Breitbart, The Washington Times, and other outlets that probably aren’t going to ring any bells. The Wall Street Journal has released a statement saying if they’d been aware of the exclusions, they wouldn’t have participated.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer excludes some media outlets from briefing https://t.co/cFeg2iPqJ5 pic.twitter.com/3RHa4kGLMW

— Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) February 24, 2017

CNN has since responded to the White House’s decision to ban outlets at its discretion. The brief but intense response (which you can watch above) doesn’t hold back. Jake Tapper calls for Trump and his administration to put on their big kid clothes and remember how a democratic society functions, saying,

It’s not acceptable. In fact, it’s petulant and indicative of a lack of basic understanding of how an adult White House functions.

Tapper also makes it clear that their will be no beating around the bush in regard to how fundamentally undemocratic this action is.

This White House does not seem to respect the idea of accountability. This White House does not seem to value an independent press. There is a word for that line of thinking. The word is un-American.

The State Department has announced that full press briefings will resume in early March. Will all the currently banned outlets return to Spicer’s press room?

Spicer can certainly ban major outlets, if reaching a large number of readers and TV viewers with his message is suddenly unimportant. >

— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) February 24, 2017

Spicer can say “F— you, my house my rules.” But overall, the press can do its job without Spicer. Spicer cannot do his without the press.x

— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) February 24, 2017

For his part, Trump still somehow maintains that “nobody loves the First Amendment better than [him].”

Nobody loves the First Amendment more than @realDonaldTrump. pic.twitter.com/zJ3OUtMocq

— New York Magazine (@NYMag) February 24, 2017

Well, maybe it’s true what they say: You always hurt the ones you love.

(image via Shutterstock)

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