The media attacked President Donald Trump Thursday for not insisting that journalists be allowed to ask questions at a joint press conference with Chinese President Xi Jinping, forgetting that former President Barack Obama did the same thing on his first trip to China.
Reporters from CNN and MSNBC decried the president for holding a joint press conference with Xi that did not allow journalists to ask questions of the two leaders, yet in their rush to criticize Trump, they forgot their history — specifically Obama’s first visit to Beijing.
Watch: Joint Press Conference with President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping
The two presidents did not take questions from the crowd, sparking outrage among some reporters, even though the previous administration did the same.
Tweet criticizing Trump (Twitter screenshot)
CNN’s Jeremy Diamond, who later issued a correction and deleted his tweet, was joined by Jake Tapper and MSNBC’s Chuck Todd.
China isn’t supposed to have a say about press access. Previous press secs used to fight with Chinese counterparts for press access when in China. Witnessed personally. https://t.co/IWMgOoy7ZB
— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) November 9, 2017
Tapper created a long thread on the issue.
The Chinese government never wants to take questions from US reporters. In the past American presidents have insisted upon it as a demonstration of standing up for the freedoms our nation believes in. 1/ https://t.co/2af9t7ArOU
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) November 9, 2017
4/ there’s nothing strong about acceding to the wishes of an oppressive Communist government by going along with its contempt for freedom of the press. One can issue as many condemnations of Communism as one wants on paper; they’re meaningless if one then bows to totalitarianism.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) November 9, 2017
Tapper acknowledged his mistake in a tweet long after his original thread.
CNN criticized the president for his actions in an article on Trump’s trip to China but was forced to issue a correction:
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect neither Trump nor President Barack Obama took questions alongside his Chinese counterpart during their first visit to the country. A previous version misstated that Obama had.
Even Susan Rice, Obama national security adviser, attacked the president and his press secretary for supposedly kowtowing to the Chinese government and restricting free speech.
— Susan Rice (@AmbassadorRice) November 9, 2017
(The above tweet was in response to Jeremy Diamond’s original tweet)
Asked why President Trump didn’t take questions from reporters today, Sarah Sanders said, “It was at the Chinese insistence there were no questions today.”
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) November 9, 2017
They always insist, Sarah. The trick is to use diplomacy to extract that concession as a matter of principle, despite their resistence. https://t.co/4SrSmvUPSi
— Susan Rice (@AmbassadorRice) November 9, 2017
While it is true that past presidents, including Obama on a later trip, took questions at press conferences with Chinese leaders, Obama did not insist that journalists be allowed to ask questions during a joint press conference with former Chinese President Hu Jintao on his first visit to Beijing in 2009.
Watch: Joint Press Conference with President Barack Obama and Hu Jintao
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