President Donald Trump called on two conservative outlets during his joint press conference Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and journalists are not happy.
The president called on Christian Broadcasting Network and Townhall for the two allotted questions for U.S. media at the event. The CBN reporter asked about the resignation of Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, and the Townhall reporter focused her questions on a potential Middle East peace agreement.
“Calling on only conservative press who refuse to press [President Donald Trump] about his Russia connections is not freedom of the press,” USA Today senior politics reporter Heidi Przybyla tweeted after the two reporters were called on.
CNN’s Jim Acosta said after the press conference, “There’s no other way to describe it but: The fix is in.” Boston Globe’s deputy Washington bureau chief Matt Viser said Trump not getting asked about alleged Russian connections was a “blow to the press.”
Acosta’s colleague Jim Sciutto tweeted, “One way to avoid hard questions on Trump admin [Russia] ties? Call on CBN & a conservative website.” NBC’s national correspondent Peter Alexander said that the reporters called on by didn’t ask any “real questions.”
However, the questions from the conservative reporters got Trump to make news and say that he wants Israel to stop building settlements and that the “fake media” is after him. BuzzFeed News political editor Katherine Miller commented on Twitter, “Am I missing something or have most of the questions from conservative outlets/broadcasters been fine or good?”