CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings poked fun at The Associated Press Wednesday for “not dealing in reality” after President Donald Trump’s administration barred the outlet from the Oval Office for refusing to recognize the newly named Gulf of America.
The White House told the AP they would be denied entry from an event in the Oval Office if they did not comply with the president’s executive order to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Jennings said presidents have renamed landmarks and locations throughout history and accused the AP of wanting to intentionally “pick a fight” with Trump.
“We have a lawful process in this country for changing the name of it, the president went through it with the Secretary of Interior [Doug Burgum] by the way … We also have the ability to change this body of water,” Jennings said. “I think, look, this smacks to me of a news organization looking for a way to pick a fight with Donald Trump over something that they don’t need to pick a fight over. He is the president and there is a lawful process that he went through to do it, so why won’t they just respect that?”
CNN host Abby Phillip jumped to the AP’s defense, stating that the outlet should be allowed to continue calling the body of water the Gulf of Mexico. Jennings then questioned whether the AP is participating in political activism over journalism for refusing to call the gulf by its new proper name.
“Why would I respect a news organization that doesn’t live in reality?” Jennings pushed back, receiving pushback from the other panelists.
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“Donald Trump picked a fight with the news organization,” Phillip claimed. “The news organization can do whatever they want, if they want to call it the Gulf of South America, they can call it that. But Scott, they can call it whatever they want because there’s free speech in this country, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Yes, but that, in my opinion if you’re not willing to call something by the proper name based on the laws of the United States, that calls into question your judgement and are you a news organization?” Jennings replied.
Sarah Matthews, a former deputy press secretary during Trump’s first term, asked Jennings whether it would be justifiable for former President Joe Biden to bar Fox News from the White House for recognizing there are only two genders. Jennings argued that Trump has provided more transparency to the press than Biden, who often got shielded from reporters and rarely held press conferences, which CNN’s Brian Stelter flat-out denied.
Trump answered 75 total questions just hours after being sworn into his second term, while Biden responded to just six questions in his first full week in office.
The AP issued a statement lamenting the White House’s decision to bar them from the Oval Office, saying it “severely impedes the public’s access to independent journalism.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a Wednesday press briefing that reporting on-the-ground in the Oval Office is a “privilege,” and any outlets telling lies will “be held accountable.”
The AP is among several corporate media outlets that raked in millions of dollars from the federal government, including a $19,502,333 contract from the U.S. Agency for Global Media (AGM), stretching from 2017 to 2022.
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