by WorldTribune Staff, June 14, 2016
The campaign of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has revoked the press credentials of The Washington Post.
“They have no journalistic integrity and write falsely about Mr. Trump,” the GOP candidate’s campaign said in a statement explaining the decision on June 13. “Mr. Trump does not mind a bad story, but it has to be honest.”
Trump’s campaign had taken issue with an article on the Post’s website with the headline, “Donald Trump suggests President Obama was involved with Orlando shooting.” The headline was changed to “Donald Trump seems to connect President Obama to Orlando shooting” within an hour after it was published.
“The Washington Post unfortunately covers Mr. Trump very inaccurately. We no longer feel compelled to work with a publication which has put its need for ‘clicks’ above journalistic integrity,” the Trump campaign said.
“The Washington Post is being used by the owners of Amazon as their political lobbyist so that they don’t have to pay taxes and don’t get sued for monopolistic tendencies that have led to the destruction of department stores and the retail industry.”
Trump has been a vocal critic of Post owner Jeff Bezos, who also owns Amazon.com.
In December, Trump tweeted that Bezos was using the Post “to screw public on low taxation of Amazon.”
In February, Trump said Bezos “wants political influence so that Amazon will benefit from it — that’s not right. And believe me, if I become president, oh, do they have problems.”
In May, Trump said Bezos was “getting away with murder tax-wise.”
Post editor Marty Baron said in a statement that “Donald Trump’s decision to revoke The Washington Post’s press credentials is nothing less than a repudiation of the role of a free and independent press.” the newspaper’s editor, Marty Baron, said in a statement.
Ben Smith, executive editor of Buzzfeed, said it is also banned from covering official Trump events. The Huffington Post posted on Twitter that its reporters are also barred.
“A candidate for the highest elected office in the land doesn’t get to choose what goes in a newspaper,” said Committee to Protect Journalist Deputy Executive Director Robert Mahoney. “It provides a ready-made excuse for authoritarian leaders to crackdown further on independent journalists. We urge Donald Trump to reconsider and let The Washington Post do its job.”
Trump-Bezos war heats up: Candidate revokes Washington Post press credentials added by World Tribune on
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