Donald Trump hasn’t been a fan of CNN for quite awhile. He prefers Fox News and Breitbart, and the president’s not pleased with what he perceives as a bias against him. Trump’s anger climaxed in mid-January when he refused to answer a question from Jim Acosta and, instead, pointed and declared, “You are fake news.” He also repeatedly stated, “Your organization is terrible.” Trump had fueled his grudge with an erroneous belief that CNN published the “golden showers” dossier (they did not — Buzzfeed posted it).
Even Fox News’ Shepard Smith defended CNN against Trump’s press conference outburst, and now, it’s become evident that Trump is purposely avoiding CNN. The past few Sundays have seen no members of his administration on Jake Tapper’s State of the Union, nor have Kellyanne Conway or Sean Spicer appeared on any prime time programs. On Twitter, Tapper disclosed that CNN asked Trump to send someone to “clear up any confusion” on his immigration ban. This request was shut down.
We asked the Trump WH to provide a guest to explain the order & clear up any confusion (even within its own govt).
They declined. #CNNSOTU— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 29, 2017
Politico requested comment from the White House on the “icing out” display, and an unnamed official stated, “We’re sending surrogates to places where we think it makes sense to promote our agenda.” The official reportedly acknowledged that the ban was “not permanent,” which almost looks like a dangled carrot with an implication that Trump would allow greater access if CNN plays nice.
In addition, Politico quotes Sean Spicer as saying, “I’m not going to sit around and engage with people who have no desire to actually get something right.” He must prefer his own “alternative facts,” and to support this theory, Conway has gamely been appearing on Fox News since the CNN freeze began. Acosta has still been permitted at daily Spicer briefings, and he spoke with third-wheel Ted Cruz after Trump’s SCOTUS announcement on Tuesday, but the channel has been shut out of any productive exchange of ideas.
So, the White House is icing out one of the major cable news networks. Even Tapper, who’s known for a no-nonsense approach and lets Trump guests speak their minds, can no longer gain access to any of Trump’s representatives. As the president himself is fond of saying, “Not nice.”
(Via Jake Tapper on Twitter & Politico)