Biden press secretary on Trump moves against AP, pool: 'What we're looking at is state TV'
Former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, during an appearance on ABC's The View on Tuesday, likened the Trump administration's feud with the Associated Press and takeover of press pool coverage to how countries like Russia and North Korea treat the media.
"When the White House press team decides to step in and override the White House Correspondents Association ... what we're looking at is state TV," she said. "They are attacking the fiber of the freedom of the press. They are destroying it because they want to be covered in a friendly way."
The White House restricted AP coverage of the Oval Office and aboard Air Force One after the wire service said its reporters and the organization's influential stylebook followed by many outside media outlets would continue to refer to the Gulf of Mexico by its name known internationally instead of defaulting to "Gulf of America," as Trump renamed it in an executive order shortly after taking office.
The WHCA and individual media outlets have come out in support of the AP.
The Trump administration announced last week that it would take control over assignments to the press pool that covers the president, adding new media outlets and removing WHCA's role in coordinating coverage.
Jean-Pierre, who was President Biden's press secretary from May 2022 until Biden left office in January, acknowledged the AP as "the oldest wire in the press briefing room" and defended the role of the independent press pool assignments.
"Their job is to provide unbiased information to the American people, because the American people deserve that," she said. "What we're looking at is what Russia is doing. What we're looking at is what North Korea is doing."
The current White House press team didn't immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment.
Jean-Pierre said the Trump administration's changes have an international impact as other countries watch what is happening in the U.S.
"Other countries are wondering, what is it that are we saying as the United States? What is it that we want to do?" she said. "It is the cornerstone of democracy — the freedom of the press is the Fourth Estate; and we are supposed to be leading that as the most powerful country in the world."
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