Monday afternoon, Donald Trump announced he would revoke media credentials for The Washington Post in response to what he calls “incredibly inaccurate coverage.” Trump called the Post “phony and dishonest.”
In a statement, Post executive editor Marty Baron said Trump’s decision represents “nothing less than a repudiation of the role of a free and independent press.”
As USA Today reports, the ban was prompted by a Post story, which reported on Trump’s comments on Fox News Channel this morning, specifically the Post’s headline (“Donald Trump seems to connect President Obama to Orlando shooting,”)
“Look, we’re led by a man that either is not tough, not smart, or he’s got something else in mind,” Trump said on Fox & Friends. “And the something else in mind — you know, people can’t believe it. People cannot, they cannot believe that President Obama is acting the way he acts and can’t even mention the words ‘radical Islamic terrorism.’ There’s something going on. It’s inconceivable. There’s something going on.”
“He doesn’t get it or he gets it better than anybody understands — it’s one or the other, and either one is unacceptable,” Trump said.
Trump and his campaign have moved to block access for other journalists, including those from Univision, Fusion, BuzzFeed, The Daily Beast and Politico.
Earlier this month, Trump said of NBC News correspondent Katy Tur, “We don’t even let her in. We don’t talk to her, we don’t let people talk to her because she’s not a very good reporter.”
Trump has also famously refused to talk to Univision and Fusion anchor Jorge Ramos, who was forcibly ejected from a Trump news conference last August.
Trump says he’s revoking @washingtonpost‘s press credentials, escalating his alarming habit of blacklisting media outlets he doesn’t like
— Sara Murray (@SaraMurray) June 13, 2016