The presumptive Republican presidential candidate nominee Donald Trump on Monday banned The Washington Post’s reporters from covering his campaign events after it reported a few comments the New York billionaire made on U.S. President Barack Obama and the mass shooting in Orlando city in Florida.
The magnate revoked the press credentials of the “phony and dishonest” daily based on the “incredibly inaccurate coverage” of the newspaper, according to his Facebook and Twitter accounts.
“Based on the incredibly inaccurate coverage and reporting of the record setting Trump campaign, we are hereby revoking the press credentials of the phony and dishonest Washington Post,” Mr. Trump said on Facebook.
His decision comes after the newspaper published an article about the magnate’s comments criticising Mr. Obama’s responses on Orlando massacre on Sunday morning that left 50 people killed and 53 others injured at a gay nightclub frequented by the LGBT community.
The article titled “Donald Trump suggests President Obama was involved with Orlando shooting”, was shown on their website throughout the day.
Mr. Trump called the newspaper “dishonest” and considered their headline “sad” for distorting his comments on Mr. Obama, Efe news reported.
“We’re led by a man that either is not tough, not smart, or he’s got something else in mind,” Mr. Trump told Fox News on Monday, which was reported by The Washington Post.
“And the something else in mind —— you know, people can’t believe it. People cannot, they cannot believe that 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,” he said, according to the Washington Post.
Meanwhile, the daily’s executive editor Marty Baron said “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” and regretted that “when coverage doesn’t correspond to what the candidate wants it to be, then a news organisation is banished.”
Mr. Baron assured that his newspaper will continue to cover Mr. Trump “honourably, honestly, accurately, energetically, and unflinchingly” because the Washington Post is “proud of our coverage”.
