Jackie Heinrich, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, said the Trump administration engaged in retaliation by blocking a reporter’s access because the president was upset by her questions.
“The White House Correspondents’ Association strongly objects to the White House Correspondents’ Association’s decision to restrict a reporter’s coverage simply because the President ignored their questions. This is retaliation. The American public’s right to a free press depends on journalists being able to do their jobs without fear that challenging the President will limit their access,” Heinrich, Fox News’ senior White House correspondent, said in a statement Wednesday.
Heinrich’s statement comes after Semaphore reported that The Independent correspondent Andrew Feinberg was told by the White House that he would no longer be the print pooler for Trump’s visit to South Carolina on Wednesday evening.
On Tuesday, Feinberg was part of the pool in the Oval Office as Trump took questions from reporters after announcing a new fraud tip line where whistleblowers could collect up to $30,000, or 1%, for uncovering government fraud. He asked Trump about the False Claims Act, a law that has been on the books since the 1800s that allows him to collect up to 25% of huge sums.
When Feinberg tried to ask additional questions, Trump turned on him. He said to Feinberg at one point, “What’s wrong with you? Are you a sick person?” Vice President J.D. Vance posted on Twitter that Feinberg was an “idiot” and the White House instant reaction account called him a “Mongoloid idiot,” a slur. Feinberg did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump once again flared up while answering questions on Wednesday while on Marine One en route to South Carolina. He called CNN’s Kaitlyn Collins a “low-IQ person” and told her, “You’re a fake person.” He also called an ABC News reporter an “idiot.”
A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Feinberg defended his questions in an article Posted on The Independent website And wrote, “For the record, I had my annual physical earlier this month, and I can report that I am absolutely healthy. I was doing my job, and I will be right back tomorrow.”
Last year, the White House took control over who would be selected in the press pool rotation, after years in which the WHCA set the schedule.