WASHINGTON — Donald Trump announced Monday that he was revoking media credentials from The Washington Post, another sign that he does not tolerate criticism that often comes with presidential campaigns.
Trump has previously banned Politico, BuzzFeed, the Daily Beast, the Des Moines Register and other publications from attending his press events and rallies. But The Post ban is new territory, given the paper’s historic role in covering campaigns and setting the nation’s political agenda.
Trump did not specify his reasons for revoking the Post’s credentials, and his press secretary did not immediately respond to an email. But in a Facebook post earlier Monday, Trump complained about a headline on a story related to television interviews Trump gave about the Orlando, Fla., attack.
“I am no fan of President Obama,” Trump wrote, “but to show you how dishonest the phony Washington Post is, they wrote, ‘Donald Trump suggests President Obama was involved with Orlando shooting’ as their headline. Sad!”
That headline on the online post appears to have changed; it currently reads: “Donald Trump seems to connect President Obama to Orlando shooting.”
The interview the story reported on was one on Fox News in which Trump said President Barack Obama “doesn’t get it or he gets it better than anybody understands — it’s one or the other, and either one is unacceptable.”
“Look, we’re led by a man that either is not tough, not smart, or he’s got something else in mind,” Trump said at another point. “And the something else in mind — you know, people can’t believe it. People cannot, they cannot believe that President Obama is acting the way he acts and can’t even mention the words ‘radical Islamic terrorism.’ There’s something going on. It’s inconceivable. There’s something going on.”
Trump has a history of raising unfounded speculation about Obama, including referring to debunked conspiracies that the president was not born in the United States.
He has often used the media as a foil, calling them sleazy and dishonest, a tactic that has excited his fans and insulated from some criticism he has faced, particularly during the Republican primaries.
In a statement later in the day, Trump accused The Post of putting “its need for ‘clicks’ above journalistic integrity.” He repeated a charge he has leveled before, without evidence, that the Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos, who is also the founder and chief executive of Amazon, wants to use the paper to lobby for government policies that would favor the tech company.
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