Outrage erupts after Karoline Leavitt says White House will take over press pool invites

The White House will choose which news outlets are included in the press pool from now on, according to a decision announced on Tuesday by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Many saw the decision as a response to a lawsuit from the Associated Press after the outlet was banned from the White House over its refusal to follow an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. On Monday, a judge denied an emergency motion to reinstate access for the AP but set a hearing to fully consider the issue in a month.

'In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps.'

"For decades, a group of D.C.-based journalists — the White House Correspondents' Association — has long dictated which journalists get to ask questions of the president of the United States in these most intimate spaces. Not any more," said Leavitt.

"I am proud to announce that we are going to give the power back to the people," she added.

She went on to say that the White House press team would determine who will staff the press pool but claimed that "legacy outlets who have participated in the press pool for decades" will be allowed to join.

WHCA President Eugene Daniels expressed his outrage in a long statement decrying the decision.

"This move tears at the independence of a free press in the United States. It suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president. In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps," he said in part.

"To be clear, the White House did not give the WHCA board a heads up or have any discussions about today's announcements. But the WHCA will never stop advocating for comprehensive access, full transparency, and the right of the American public to read, listen to, and watch reports from the White House, delivered without fear or favor."

Others posted their displeasure on social media.

"This move does not give the power back to the people — it gives power to the White House. The WHCA is democratically elected by the full-time White House press corps," responded Jacqui Heinrich of Fox News. "WHCA has determined pools for decades because only representatives FROM our outlets can determine resources all those outlets have — such as staffing — in order to get the President's message out to the largest possible audience, no matter the day or hour."

"Having served as a Moscow correspondent in the early days of Putin's reign, this reminds me of how the Kremlin took over its own press pool and made sure that only compliant journalists were given access," said Peter Baker of the New York Times.

"Every president of both parties going back generations subscribed to the principle that a president doesn't pick the press corps that is allowed in the room to ask him questions. Trump has just declared that he will," he added.

"Trump White House on the way to establishing its own version of a Kremlin press pool, approved media only…" replied Susan Glasser of the New Yorker, also wife to Peter Baker.

Here's the video of Leavitt's comments:

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