Outspoken Vladimir Putin critic and renowned chess player Garry Kasparov blasted President Trump Donald John TrumpHR McMaster says president's policy to withdraw troops from Afghanistan is 'unwise' Cast of 'Parks and Rec' reunite for virtual town hall to address Wisconsin voters Biden says Trump should step down over coronavirus response MORE's administration Friday for banning some news outlets from an impromptu press briefing with White House press secretary Sean Spicer, saying that those journalists should use the time instead to investigate the president's connection to the Russian leader.

"Now that some journalists won't waste time being insulted and lied to at the White House, they can dig into Trump's business & Russia ties," Kasparov said as part of a tweet storm over the decision to block several outlets from a briefing.

"It's also element of how autocracy can rise so fast. Cutting off critics leads to an even smaller bubble, full of sycophants & worse ideas," he said in his criticism.

It's depressing to see these predictions come true for me, too. But it's not second sight; it's looking at at the past to see the future. https://t.co/VN8rGjESRF — Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) February 24, 2017

It's also element of how autocracy can rise so fast. Cutting off critics leads to an even smaller bubble, full of sycophants & worse ideas. — Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) February 24, 2017

There are tipping points between rhetoric & action. Eg: Ignoring intelligence vs manufacturing it. Criticizing the media vs limiting it. Etc — Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) February 24, 2017

The rhetoric usually sets the stage for action. Demonizing "enemies" before persecuting them. It's why discarding Trump's threats is wrong. — Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) February 24, 2017

If a would-be autocrat doesn't make good on a threat it's because he couldn't–he was stopped or deterred–not because it was an empty threat. — Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) February 24, 2017

Now that some journalists won't waste time being insulted and lied to at the White House, they can dig into Trump's business & Russia ties. — Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) February 24, 2017

Earlier in the afternoon, Spicer held an off-camera "gaggle" with reporters in his West Wing office, as opposed to the regular briefing in the White House briefing room.

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CNN, The New York Times, The Hill, Politico, BuzzFeed and the Los Angeles Times were among the publications not allowed into the briefing. Hours earlier, Trump had devoted much of a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference to criticizing the media.

Several conservative outlets were allowed into Spicer’s office, including Breitbart, The Washington Times and One America News Network.

ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Reuters, Bloomberg and McClatchy were also allowed into the meeting.

In January, Kasparov compared a Trump press conference to ones held by leaders in the Soviet Union.

“That reminded me of a Soviet press conference. More speakers than questions, more flags than answers,” Kasparov tweeted.