White House press secretary said on Dec. 16, 2016, while still serving as communications director at the Republican National Committee, that media outlets shouldn't be stopped from covering the White House simply because of negative coverage. White House press secretary Sean Spicer barred reporters from several large media outlets from participating in a scheduled press briefing Friday. The White House Correspondents’ Association, representing the White House press pool, released a statement indicating that it was “protesting strongly” against the way the briefing was handled. Politico’s Jake Sherman raised the question of how a Trump White House might deal with outlets it didn’t like, given that some had been blocked from attending Trump campaign events. ?”“Look, there’s a big difference between a campaign where it is a private venue using private funds and a government entity,” Spicer replied.

Source: Washington Post February 24, 2017 20:34 UTC