White House press secretary Sarah Sanders hit some reporters for confronting her with what she described as “unnecessary” attitude in their coverage of the Trump administration.
At Wednesday’s press briefing, CNN reporter Jim Acosta asked Sanders if she believed this White House considered itself “a champion of the free press.”
“We support a free press,” she said. But she also said it should be a “fair press and I think those things should go hand in hand.”
[Also read: CNN’s Jim Acosta: Trump’s attacks on media are ‘an act’ that could inspire violence against journalists]
Sarah Sanders to CNN’s Jim Acosta: “A lot of times [I’m] taking your questions in a tone that’s completely unnecessary and unneeded” pic.twitter.com/CPm45DfAg4
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) April 25, 2018
“I think a number of people do that every single day, they do their best to provide fair and accurate information. Certainly support that. That’s one of the reasons I’m standing here taking your questions, and a lot of times taking your questions in a tone that is completely unnecessary, unneeded and frankly doesn’t help further the conversation or help the American people get any more information in a better way, which is your job and my job and that’s what I’m trying to do.”
Some reporters, including Acosta, have complained about the White House and the president’s claims of so-called “fake news,” suggesting that it erodes at press freedoms and sows distrust of the press among the public.
