Brian Stelter Says CNN Not Invited To Lunch With Trump Before State Of The Union Address

CNN anchors are reportedly not invited to the luncheon with President Donald Trump that occurs before the State of the Union (SOTU) address Tuesday night.

Brian Stelter, host of CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” says three sources told him Monday night that the network is not welcome at the event where high-profile journalists sit in a relaxed, supposedly off-the-record setting with the president.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 08: Brian Stelter attends CNN Heroes at American Museum of Natural History on December 08, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for WarnerMedia)

Brian Stelter attends CNN Heroes at American Museum of Natural History on Dec. 08, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for WarnerMedia)

“Trump, like presidents before him, typically invites anchors from all the major networks to dine with him at the White House in advance of his State of the Union address. The lunch conversation is considered off the record, but it gives the anchors a sense of the president’s state of mind before they anchor SOTU coverage,” Stelter wrote, noting that both CNN hosts Anderson Cooper and Wolf Blitzer were at the exclusive affair in 2019. Blitzer has been going for 20 consecutive years, according to Stelter. (RELATED: Brian Stelter: Schiff Speaks For Americans, Nunes For ‘Fox Audience’)

The exclusion of CNN has not provoked any sort of boycott from other networks or journalists so far, according to Stelter, who claims “it is the first time in recent memory that a president has singled out one network and opted not to invite any anchors from there.”

At the previous luncheon, the off-the-record rule was apparently not applied by every media outlet, as many of Trump’s comments were reported the following day.

“I hope it’s Biden,” Trump was quoted as saying in regards to the 2020 presidential election. “Biden was never very smart. He was a terrible student. His gaffes are unbelievable. When I say something that you might think is a gaffe, it’s on purpose; it’s not a gaffe. When Biden says something dumb, it’s because he’s dumb.” (RELATED: CNN Forced To Admit Mueller Report Vindicates Trump)

In a recent episode of CNN anchor Don Lemon’s nightly broadcast, his guests lampooned Trump supporters as a gaggle of ignorant rubes and suggested the president couldn’t find Ukraine on the map. Lemon laughed for awhile as the two mocked Trump supporters. Lemon has also compared Trump to Adolf Hitler.

CNN analyst Sam Vinograd suggested that President Donald Trump’s 2019 speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) “sounded a lot like” Hitler.

Jeffrey Toobin, CNN’s legal analyst called the president a “racist” when Trump suggested that Democratic California Rep. Maxine Waters does not possess a very high IQ.

When Trump became the first president to attend and speak at the March for Life in Washington, a CNN reporter said he was only concerned about “damage control” during the Senate impeachment trial.