U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz declined to intervene on CNN’s behalf after the network’s Jake Tapper asked him, during a Sunday interview on “State of the Union,” to urge President Trump to reinstate CNN’s access to the White House press pool.
The White House barred CNN from fulfilling its pool reporting assignment on behalf of the five major television networks the day before the interview. Tapper raised the matter directly with Waltz at the close of their conversation.
“Before you go, sir, I just want to note, yesterday, the White House barred CNN from fulfilling our pool assignment on behalf of the five major television networks. As you know, we all pool coverage, and all of our affiliates and subscribers. And I would just ask if you could please convey to President Trump to let CNN back in the pool. It was not OK when President Obama tried to freeze FOX out of the pool back in 2009. And I don’t think we want a world where presidents decide who gets to cover them.”
Waltz did not agree to make that request. Instead, he responded by raising concerns about the broader fairness of press coverage of the administration.
“Well, I hear you, Jake, but I think we need fair, and objective, and well-sourced reporting. And I could tell you, as having been the victim of a lot of this nonsense, my family members, and so many others, we need a free and fair and honest press corps without an agenda that tries to take facts to fit a narrative. And whether that is Biden’s inability and many issues that he had that was whitewashed, and then people came back around with corrections. Or other issues. So that’s a much longer conversation. And President Trump’s frustrated.”
Waltz went on to argue that the White House’s move was not about suppressing negative coverage generally, pointing to the presence of outlets he described as unfavorable to the administration.
“And, by the way, there are over what, 50 seats in the press room. I don’t think all of them, like Washington Post or New York Times, are exactly positive towards this administration. So that’s a false narrative that it’s about negative reporting. We need fair and objective reporting for the country.”
Waltz also cited what he described as a story involving anonymous sources referring to a now-dead senator as an example of the kind of reporting he said was problematic.
Tapper responded by noting that every president has expressed frustration with media coverage during their time in office.
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