Jake Tapper calls the White House’s press ban 'un-American'

(Image credit: Screenshot/CNN)

published 24 February 2017

On Friday, President Donald Trump made a speech at CPAC in which he slammed the "fake news" media for its use of anonymous sources. "They have no sources," Trump told the crowd, referring specifically to a story in The Washington Post that cited nine unnamed sources while accurately detailing former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's discussions with a Russian ambassador. Later in the day, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer held an informal, off-camera press briefing from which several prominent news outlets, including The New York Times and Politico, were specifically excluded.

CNN was also barred from entering Spicer's press gaggle Friday, prompting the network's anchor Jake Tapper to begin his afternoon show with a fiery assessment of the Trump administration's relationship with the press. Tapper noted that Trump seems "particularly averse to any criticism" and that his White House seems to have a "lack of basic understanding of how an adult White House functions." "It's petulant," Tapper said. "This White House does not seem to respect the idea of accountability. This White House does not seem to value an independent press. There is a word for that line of thinking. The word is 'un-American.'"