White House press secretary Sarah Sanders dismissed concerns on Wednesday about media access to the Trump administration, hours after the president threatened to “take away credentials” from reporters whose coverage he disliked.
“I think a number of you have mentioned both on air, in private, or on other occasions [that] this is one of the most accessible White Houses,” Sanders said. “We’re very committed to the free press and I think that we demonstrate that every single day.”
Sanders said her own willingness to take questions from the press in daily briefings, a White House tradition since 1995, demonstrates the administration’s commitment to accessibility and transparency. She also cited Trump’s frequent allowance of impromptu Q&A sessions when reporters are covering events around the West Wing.
“The president did it just a couple hours ago,” she said, pointing to Trump’s decision to field questions about North Korea and Iran during a Cabinet meeting Wednesday afternoon.
Prior to that meeting, Trump had accused the media of “working overtime” to disseminate negative information about him and his administration.
[Related: Trump revoking press credentials would be an ‘unconscionable assault,’ says reporters group]
“Despite the tremendous success we are having with the economy & all things else, 91% of the Network News about me is negative (Fake),” he tweeted. “Why do we work so hard in working with the media when it is corrupt? Take away credentials?”
Sanders declined to say whether Trump planned to follow through on revoking reporters’ credentials, instead echoing her boss’ complaints.
“The press has a responsibility to put out accurate information. Just yesterday, the New York Times accused the secretary of state of being AWOL,” she said, referring to an article about Secretary of State Mike Pompeo with the headline: “At a key moment, Trump’s top diplomat is again thousands of miles away.”
“When he was flying across the globe to bring three Americans home, that is an outrageous claim,” Sanders said.
Trump has regularly criticized the media for its coverage of his administration, and previously floated the idea of relaxing libel laws.
