After reports came out that President Donald Trump did not take questions during a press conference in China, several pundits, journalists, and former Obama administration officials criticized this decision.
NBC’s Chuck Todd stated that “China isn’t supposed to have a say about press access. Previous press secs used to fight with Chinese counterparts for press access when in China.”
China isn’t supposed to have a say about press access. Previous press secs used to fight with Chinese counterparts for press access when in China. Witnessed personally. https://t.co/IWMgOoy7ZB
— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) November 9, 2017
In a now-deleted tweet, a CNN White House Reporter Jeremy Diamond claimed that Trump was, “the first US president since George H.W. Bush to not take questions from reporters alongside his Chinese counterpart on his first visit here. Clinton, G.W. Bush & Obama all made a point of doing it.”
Diamond corrected this mistake in a subsequent tweet.
Correction: Obama also did not take questions with his counterpart during his first visit. He & Xi did during a subsequent trip in 2014. https://t.co/Q76KocaIiB
— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) November 9, 2017
During former President Barack Obama’s 2009 visit to China, a press conference was held in which no questions from the press were allowed. As the Guardian reported at the time, “Today’s event had been described as a press conference, but no questions were allowed.”
Before Obama, both former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton did take questions from reporters during their first trips to China.
The incorrect claim that Trump is “the first US president since George H.W. Bush to not take questions from reporters alongside his Chinese counterpart” remains on certain websites, including MSN.
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