Media personalities let the White House have it on Friday after Press Secretary Sean Spicer reportedly excluded certain outlets from attending the daily press briefing. Networks and websites such as CNN, NYT, Politico, Buzzfeed were denied access, according to journalists.
A big deal: WH now picking and choosing which news outlets can attend Spicer gaggle, preventing CNN, NYT, Politico, Buzzfeed from attending
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 24, 2017
The White House Correspondents Association was not pleased, releasing the following statement.
Certain media outlets were blocked from covering Sean Spicer's gaggle today. Here is the @whca's response pic.twitter.com/YUeLS4ss0z
— Jordan Fabian (@Jordanfabian) February 24, 2017
As Fox News' John Roberts explained after the kerfuffle, Spicer did not have a traditional briefing in the White House on Friday. Instead, he invited about 20 outlets to his office for an off-camera, on the record gaggle. He said they could not accommodate all media requests, due to the smaller size of the room.
This news comes at a particularly tense time for the White House and the press, considering President Trump spent much of his CPAC speech Friday morning slamming the "dishonest media."