White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) President Jeff Mason in an interview on Sunday said it is not the job of the association to defend the White House, despite a previous call from the Trump administration for him to do so.

Mason during a segment on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” clarified an anecdote he shared last week during a town hall, in which he described an instance where the White House asked him to push back on a reporter’s article.

“It was regarding a story that had been written about the press, and the White House called, was upset about that story and asked me, on behalf of the correspondents' association, to release a statement essentially defending the White House,” Mason explained.

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Mason said he denied the White House’s request.

“And that would have been, in my view, the same really as criticizing the reporter and criticizing the story,” Mason continued.

“And I said no. That’s just not something that we do. That’s not a role that we play.”

The story in question, Mason confirmed, was by a Politico reporter, Tara Palmeri, who also appeared in the CNN segment with Mason. It focused on a lack of White House press access.