Donald Trump took a lot of heat this week after revoking The Washington Post's press credentials from his campaign events over a headline he felt was inaccurate, but lost in much of the debate was President Obama's own -- arguably harsher -- tactics to control the press over the past eight years.
The Post joined a growing list of other media outlets -- including The Huffington Post, the New Hampshire Union Leader, Politico and others -- who have been refused press access to Trump events.
Trump also has said he wants to "open up the libel laws" and frequently shames the press at his rallies.
While Trump's hatred of much of the media is well documented, President Obama has used similar -- and in some cases, much more heavy-handed tactics -- to stymie the press.
In May 2011, the Obama administration refused to give the Boston Herald full access to a presidential fundraiser in Boston over a front-page opinion column by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. A White House spokesman told the Herald at the time it picks pool reporters based on whether they cover the news "fairly" -- a statement that seemed to suggest the Obama administration doled out access as a reward for favorable coverage -- and criticized the Herald for placing the Romney op-ed on the front page instead of Obama's Boston visit.
Obama and Fox News waged war in the fall of 2009. One morning, Obama went so far as to appear on all the Sunday talk shows, except Fox News, because, according to White House spokeswoman Anita Dunn, "we don't need to pretend that this is the way that legitimate news organizations behave."
And just days before the 2008 election, then-Sen. Obama's team kicked off reporters from the New York Post, The Dallas Morning News and the Washington Times from the campaign plane after all three newspapers endorsed U.S. Sen. John McCain for president.
And while Trump has said he wants to "open up the libel laws," the Obama administration has aggressively prosecuted whistleblowers who leak information to journalists.
In 2013, Obama's Department of Justice secretly seized two months of phone records from Associated Press reporters and editors, including their home and cellphones.
So, Trump's vitriol toward the media has plenty of company across both party lines.
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