The White House ramped up its war with the press Friday afternoon, barring multiple outlets from getting to ask questions as it let in a select few for a briefing from Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
Among the many outlets barred from Spicer’s office: CNN, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Hill, Politico, RealClearPolitics, BBC, and the Daily News. Others — like the conservative Breitbart, The Washington Times and One America News Network — were given the nod and allowed in.
The Associated Press and Time magazine boycotted the briefing because of how it was handled. The White House Correspondents Association is protesting.
The move came just hours after President Trump promised to “do something” about the “fake news” during a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference. President Trump mocked and disparaged the news media. He said that much of the press represents “the enemy of the people.”
“They are the enemy of the people because they have no sources,” Trump said. “They just make them up when there are none.” He also said reporters “shouldn’t be allowed” to use unnamed sources.
The White House Correspondents’ Association immediately fired back at the White House’s decision.
“The WHCA board is protesting strongly against how today’s gaggle is being handled by the White House. We encourage the organizations that were allowed in to share the material with others in the press corps who were not. The board will be discussing this further with White House staff,” WHCA president Jeff Mason said in a statement.
