CNN says it will not attend this year’s White House Christmas Party for the Press because: Donald Trump.
“CNN will not be attending this year’s White House Christmas party,” a CNN spokesperson said in a statement, first reported by Politico. “In light of the President’s continued attacks on freedom of the press and CNN, we do not feel it is appropriate to celebrate with him as his invited guests. We will send a White House reporting team to the event and report on it if news warrants.”
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders made CNN’s point in her response to the news.
“Christmas comes early! Finally, good news from @CNN,” snarked the person who, hours earlier, had accused Dem leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi of “pettiness” for pulling out of Trump’s Tuesday White House meeting. They had done so after Trump tweeted “I don’t see a deal!” happening in that meeting with “Chuck and Nancy.”
Escalating his war against the First Amendment, and CNN in particular, Trump had tweeted over the weekend, “@FoxNews is MUCH more important in the United States than CNN, but outside of the U.S., CNN International is still a major source of (Fake) news, and they represent our Nation to the WORLD very poorly. The outside world does not see the truth from them!”
CNN punched back, saying on air that the president, by his remarks, is putting in danger journalists working overseas.
Trump also tweeted, on Monday, an announcement that he wanted to start a new TV trophy show to dispense his Fake News Trophy. All networks would be eligible, he said, except Fox News – the closest yet Trump has come to calling Fox News a state-run network:
We should have a contest as to which of the Networks, plus CNN and not including Fox, is the most dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted in its political coverage of your favorite President (me). They are all bad. Winner to receive the FAKE NEWS TROPHY!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2017
The annual White House Christmas party is scheduled for Friday at 2 PM.
