Jeff Mason, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, said President Trump’s staff have asked him on multiple occasions to publicly criticize his peers in the media.
“There have definitely been times over the last several months where the White House has come to us — often to me specifically — asking that we or I intervene and criticize a member news organization or reporter,” Mason said at an event hosted by the White House Historical Association, according to the Washington Post.
He said, however, that he declined.
“In one case, and I won’t say the name, but in one case, I was asked to on behalf of the WHCA to release a statement criticizing a reporter’s story,” said Mason. “And I said ‘no,’ because that’s not what we do and that’s not something we would ever do.”
Mason is also the White House correspondent for Reuters and as head of the WHCA, he is responsible for negotiating for greater press access to the administration.
On multiple occasions, the WHCA has complained that it is “unsatisfied” with the way Trump’s White House is conducting the press briefings, which are often held off camera and irregularly.
