White House bans CNN reporter from press conference

Christal Hayes | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption White House forbids CNN correspondent from attending open press event A CNN correspondent says she was barred from attending an open press event at the White House because of questions she asked the president earlier in the day.

CNN says one of its reporters was banned from a White House event Wednesday after attempting to ask President Donald Trump a series of questions that were deemed "inappropriate."

White House reporter Kaitlan Collins said she was pulled aside Wednesday afternoon after shouting questions to Trump during an Oval Office meeting with Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, and told she would be barred from a news conference.

Collins said she was asked to the office of Bill Shine, the former Fox News co-head and new deputy chief of staff of communications. There she met with Shine and Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, where she was told she wouldn't be allowed for a news conference between Trump and Juncker.

"They said 'You are dis-invited from the press availability in the Rose Garden today,'" Collins told CNN. "They said that the questions I asked were inappropriate for that venue. And they said I was shouting."

Statement regarding CNN press access at today’s White House event. We demand better. pic.twitter.com/s4lSTcHVak — CNN Communications (@CNNPR) July 25, 2018

The pair told Collins that they were not "banning your network" but simply not allowing her inside the event.

Collins told CNN she shot back at the pair, saying they were banning her just because "you didn't like the questions I asked."

Sanders said Collins was told "she was not welcome" at the event because she "shouted questions and refused to leave despite repeatedly being asked to do so."

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Sanders said Collins had told the White House she did not plan to attend the event anyway.

"To be clear, we support a free press and ask that everyone be respectful of the presidency and guests at the White House," Sanders said.

It's far from the first time the White House, or the president, has taken aim at reporters covering the Trump administration. CNN has been one of its biggest targets.

Earlier this month, President Trump refused to take questions from CNN reporter Jim Acosta at a press conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May, instead telling him "CNN is fake news. I don’t take questions from CNN."

After the interaction, Sanders posted on Twitter that the reporter "disrespected" Trump and May.

Actually a @CNN reporter disrespected @POTUS & PM May during their press conf. Instead of rewarding bad behavior, we decided to reprioritize the TV appearances for administration officials. https://t.co/58LaJH6WaD — Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) July 14, 2018

Last year, then White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer also famously banned several news organizations, including CNN, from a briefing.

Collins' ban also happened the day after CNN exclusively aired a secret recording between Trump and his attorney Michael Cohen.

The White House Correspondents' Association issued a statement about the incident, calling it an act of inappropriate "retaliation."

"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," the statement said. "This type of retaliation is wholly inappropriate, wrong-headed, and weak. It cannot stand."

The statement said it is the job of reporters to ask tough questions of those in power and journalists must be able to work "without fear of reprisal from the government."

CNN said in a statement that Collins' questions were not inappropriate and they "demand better."

"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," the statement said. "This decision to bar a member of the press is retaliatory in nature and not indicative of an open and free press. We demand better."

Washington reporters and other news networks were quick to stand up for Collins. Jay Wallace, the president of Fox News, which is the president's favorite TV network, also issued a statement blasting the event: "We stand in strong solidarity with CNN for the right to full access for our journalists as part of a free and unfettered press."