Trump Campaign Bans Bloomberg News Reporters
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The Trump campaign announced Monday that it will no longer issue credentials to Bloomberg News reporters, citing the outlet’s refusal to investigate owner Michael Bloomberg or other Democratic candidates.
Donald Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement that Bloomberg News reporters would no longer be given credentials for rallies or other campaign events.
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“The decision by Bloomberg News to formalize preferential reporting policies is troubling and wrong,” Parscale said in a statement. “Bloomberg News has declared that they won’t investigate their boss or his Democratic competitors, many of whom are current holders of high office, but will continue critical reporting of President Trump. As President Trump’s campaign, we are accustomed to unfair reporting practices, but most news organizations don’t announce their biases so publicly.”
Bloomberg announced his candidacy on Nov. 24. The same day, Bloomberg News editor in chief John Micklethwait said the organization would cover the Bloomberg campaign and its Democratic opponents, but would not investigate Bloomberg, his family or his foundations, and would extend the same policy to the other Democrats. He said the investigative team would continue to investigate Trump “as the government of the day.”
In response to the Trump campaign statement, Micklethwait said the outlet would not be deterred.
“The accusation of bias couldn’t be further from the truth,” he said. “We have covered Donald Trump fairly and in an unbiased way since he became a candidate in 2015 and will continue to do so despite the restrictions imposed by the Trump campaign.”
The Trump campaign denied credentials to many outlets at various points in 2016, including the Washington Post, Univision, Buzzfeed, and the Des Moines Register. The outlets were typically able to attend events as members of the public.
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