WATCH: Brian Stelter and Guest Completely Torch the Biden Administration’s ‘Outrageous’ Notion That the Press Should Trust Them

CNN’s Brian Stelter and a panelist on his Sunday morning program Reliable Sources teed off on President Joe Biden’s administration for what they deemed an “outrageous” position on the free press.

At the midway point of this Sunday’s program, Stelter cited a pair of incidents this week in which Biden officials more or less told the press that they would have to take the government’s version of events at face value. The administration is claiming that Russia was plotting a false flag operation as justification for an invasion of Ukraine. It also says a suicide bomber was responsible for civilian casualties during a raid in Syria, not U.S. special forces. But in neither case did the government back up their charge with detailed information, and it has bristled at media scrutiny of their claims.

Stelter slammed the administration for imploring the press to “trust us.”

“That is not what journalists do,” Stelter said. “That is not what journalists are meant to do. Journalists are meant to probe and press for the evidence, regardless of who is in power.”

The CNN host added, of the administration’s posture towards the press, “I couldn’t believe this.”

Panelist David Zurwarik, former media columnist for the Baltimore Sun, went a step further in condemning the administration.

“I think the Biden administration thought just because they weren’t Trump they were going to get some kind of free ride, and it’s outrageous!” Zurwarik said. He added, “We trust no one. That is what we do.”

Watch above, via CNN.