Sarah Sanders Gleeful That CNN Won't Be A Guest At White House Christmas Party
CNN has decided its reporters will not be guests at the annual White House Christmas party as the network continues to feud with the Trump administration.
“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,” a CNN spokesperson told HuffPost.
When White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders got wind of CNN’s decision, she could hardly contain her excitement.
“Christmas comes early!” she tweeted, sharing a link to the article on Politico.
Christmas comes early! Finally, good news from @CNN. https://t.co/3GeJysIol3
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) November 29, 2017
The event is scheduled to take place on Friday afternoon, according to Politico, and generally offers reporters an opportunity to mingle with members of the administration in a casual setting.
CNN’s decision highlights growing tension between President Donald Trump and certain media outlets he derisively labels “fake news.”
On Saturday, Trump tweeted, without evidence, that CNN was a “major source of (Fake) news.”
.@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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 25, 2017
The network responded on Twitter, saying:
It's not CNN's job to represent the U.S to the world. That's yours. Our job is to report the news. #FactsFirst 🍎
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) November 25, 2017
CNN anchor Jake Tapper also responded to the president’s tweet by highlighting network reporters who cover sensitive and life-threatening situations around the globe:
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Thinking about @cnni and my brave and hard-working colleagues there who cover famines and wars and politics and terrorism and everything else. Amazing men and women, thank you for your continued excellence. https://t.co/9sVaB0z4Li
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) November 25, 2017
That didn’t stop Trump. On Monday, he tweeted that CNN should be in the running to win a “FAKE NEWS TROPHY!”
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
In tweets containing several inaccuracies, the president has also accused The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC and other outlets of publishing false or misleading articles.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
