Dec 2, 2019 - Politics & Policy

Trump campaign to blacklist Bloomberg News

Trump at a rally in Florida on Nov. 26. Photo: Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

President Trump's 2020 campaign announced Monday it will no longer allow reporters from Bloomberg News to obtain credentials to cover Trump campaign events.

The big picture: Campaign manager Brad Parscale described the decision to ban Bloomberg reporters as a reaction to Bloomberg News' announcement that it would no longer do investigative journalism on Democratic 2020 candidates, following the entry of the media outlet's owner, Mike Bloomberg, into the presidential race.

  • After Bloomberg confirmed he was running, Bloomberg News' editor-in-chief John Micklethwait sent a memo to newsroom staffers saying the organization would continue its tradition "of not investigating Mike (and his family and foundation) and we will extend the same policy to his rivals in the Democratic primaries."
  • Micklethwait said Bloomberg News would keep investigating the Trump administration, as it is "the government of the day," but that it would reassess how it covers Trump if Bloomberg wins the Democratic nomination.

What they're saying:

"The decision by Bloomberg News to formalize preferential reporting policies is troubling and wrong.
"Bloomberg News has declared that they won't investigate their boss or his Democrat competitors, many of whom are current holders of high office, but will continue critical reporting on President Trump. As President Trump’s campaign, we are accustomed to unfair reporting practices, but most news organizations don't announce their biases so publicly. Presented with this new policy from Bloomberg News, our campaign was forced to determine how to proceed.
"Since they have declared their bias openly, the Trump campaign will no longer credential representatives of Bloomberg News for rallies or other campaign events. We will determine whether to engage with individual reporters or answer inquiries from Bloomberg News on a case-by-case basis. This will remain the policy of the Trump campaign until Bloomberg News publicly rescinds its decision."
— Brad Parscale

Bloomberg's editor-in-chief said in a statement responding to the news:

"The accusation of bias couldn't be further from the truth. We have covered Donald Trump fairly and in an unbiased way since he became a candidate in 2015 and will continue to do so despite the restrictions imposed by the Trump campaign."
— John Micklethwait

Go deeper: Bloomberg News outlines how it will cover Mike Bloomberg's candidacy

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