Fox Business prime-time host Trish Regan ridiculed Bloomberg News and its founder Michael Bloomberg for how the outlet has handled the ramifications of the billionaire’s decision to enter the 2020 presidential race.
Bloomberg News, which was founded in 1981, has not investigated the former mayor during any of his mayoral campaigns, and they recently announced their intention to follow that policy during his presidential campaign. To keep the playing field level, the editorial staff at Bloomberg News said they will not investigate any of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates but will continue to dig into President Trump.
Regan, who worked at Bloomberg News from 2012 to 2015 and now hosts Trish Regan Primetime, told the Washington Examiner that she couldn’t fathom “how angry, upset, and honestly disgusted” she would be had they issued a similar decree during her tenure before adding that her first thoughts were to the “talented, terrific journalists” at the outlet and said, “It’s gotta be incredibly demoralizing.”
“There’s an entire side that I’m not allowed to cover. If you’re being told you can’t investigate the other candidate, Democratic candidate, you can only investigate Trump, you’re basically being told, OK you’re an extension of the Democratic Party, which no journalist is or wants to be,” Regan said, and added that she would resign over the policy if she were still there.
Bloomberg was asked about the consternation that the editorial policy was causing in the Bloomberg newsroom during an interview last week with CBS News’s Gayle King. He said the reporters that are critical of the policy “just have to learn to live with some things. They get a paycheck. But with your paycheck comes some restrictions and responsibilities.”
Regan, who anchored Bloomberg News’s 2012 presidential coverage, criticized those remarks, explaining, “This is about more than a paycheck. You know, I think that the journalists, we feel a sense of responsibility. And I’m not saying that everybody should just boom, you know, walk out, because I realized people have families and financial obligations.” She went on to say that those comments demonstrate “a lack of respect for the professionals that are working for him.”
After Bloomberg announced their editorial guidelines for covering the presidential election, the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign revealed that they will no longer credential Bloomberg News reporters.
Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement, “Since they have declared their bias openly, the Trump campaign will no longer credential representatives of Bloomberg News for rallies or other campaign events. We will determine whether to engage with individual reporters or answer inquiries from Bloomberg News on a case-by-case basis. This will remain the policy of the Trump campaign until Bloomberg News publicly rescinds its decision.”
The Fox Business host explained that while she understood the justification behind their decision, she disagreed with it because, “I am a big believer in allowing everyone access.”
