Originally filed Wednesday, July 25, 2018 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins was denied access to a public event at the White House today as tensions escalate between the administration and the cable network.
CNN released a statement saying she couldn't enter an event between Donald Trump and Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission. She had asked questions to Trump at a photo op earlier in the day.
“They said ‘You are disinvited from the press availability in the Rose Garden today,'” Collins explained later on air. “They said that the questions I asked were inappropriate for that venue. And they said I was shouting.”
She added: "I'm from Alabama. I'm not rude. I believe you should always be polite when you ask a question. I totally believe that."
CNN, in an official Tweet, said “just because the White House is uncomfortable with a question regarding the news of the day doesn’t mean the question isn’t relevant and shouldn’t be asked. This decision to bar a member of the press is retaliatory in nature and not indicate of an open and free press. We demand better.”
They then listed her questions such as “Did Michael Cohen betray you, Mr. President?” and “Why is Vladimir Putin not accepting your invitation?” She had been the assigned “pool reporter” at that particular event on behalf of TV broadcasters.
Fox News, Trump’s network of choice, released a statement in support of CNN:
"We stand in strong solidarity with CNN for the right to full access for our journalists as part of a free and unfettered press." - Jay Wallace, President, FOX News
The White House Correspondents' Association protested the action.
"We strongly condemn the White House's misguided and inappropriate decision today to bar one of our members from an open press event after she asked questions they did not like," WHCA president Olivier Knox said in a statement. "This type of retaliation is wholly inappropriate, wrong-headed, and weak. It cannot stand. Reporters asking questions of powerful government officials, up to and including the President, helps hold those people accountable."
The White House as of this evening has not officially responded.
Trump has called CNN "fake news" multiple times and the New York Times reported he became upset recently when he saw his wife Melania's TV on Air Force One tuned to CNN.
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