CNN responds to being excluded from press briefing: ‘This is unacceptable’

CNN on Friday sharply condemned the decision by the White House to block it and several other outlets from covering a question-and-answer session with White House spokesman Sean Spicer.

“This is an unacceptable development by the Trump White House. Apparently this is how they retaliate when you report facts they don’t like. We’ll keep reporting regardless,” CNN said in a statement.

CNN was blocked from WH @PressSec‘s media gaggle today. This is our response: pic.twitter.com/8SfY2uYKEI

— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) February 24, 2017

Earlier in the afternoon, Spicer held an off-camera “gaggle” with reporters in his West Wing office, as opposed to the regular briefing in the White House briefing room.

{mosads}CNN — as well as The New York Times, The Hill, Politico, BuzzFeed and the Los Angeles Times — was among the publications not allowed into the briefing.

Several right-leaning outlets were allowed into Spicer’s office, including Breitbart, The Washington Times and One America News Network. 

ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Reuters, Bloomberg and McClatchy were also allowed into the meeting.

The hand-picked gaggle came hours after President Trump lashed out at the press during his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland, telling the audience, “I want you all to know that we are fighting the fake news,” a term he has used toward both CNN and The New York Times.

“I called the fake news the enemy of the people,” Trump told CPAC. “They are the enemy of the people, because they have no sources. They just make them up when there are none.”