CNN PR Hits Back at White House Spokesperson Stephanie Grisham for Being ‘Completely Out of the Loop’

CNN’s communications team hit back at  Stephanie Grisham Tuesday evening after the White House Press Secretary criticized reporting by Jeff Zeleny and Kaitlan Collins about President Donald Trump’s plan to address the nation over the current conflict with Iran.

After Iran’s strike on a base housing U.S. troops, Collins tweeted Zeleny’s reporting that “urgent preparations” were being made for Trump to deliver a speech and that plans were being made for an Oval Office address. Collins tweeted:

Aides are making urgent preparations at this hour for Trump to address the nation, per @jeffzeleny. The specific timing TBD & could be delayed given we are still learning info but two officials say a speech is being prepared and plans are being made for Oval address.

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) January 8, 2020

But Grisham took issue with the reporting, saying via quote tweet that “this is not true – was never true,” before lashing out at CNN for placing more importance in being first to break news, which in her opinion, led to “irresponsible ‘reporting.” Grisham tweeted:

This is not true – was never true – & no one even attempted to confirm with the press office before tweeting. In a race to be first to break news, the public once again falls victim to irresponsible “reporting” by @CNN @jeffzeleny @kaitlancollins https://t.co/7NdGlevoCO

— Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) January 8, 2020

The CNN PR team was not having this, however, and pushed back at the White House press secretary, noting that Grisham is “completely out of the loop in her own shop”:

The most shocking thing about this statement is that the @presssec is completely out of the loop in her own shop. CNN’s reporting that preparations were being made for an address was 100 percent accurate, and was confirmed with multiple WH officials. Nice try.

— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) January 8, 2020

It is not clear that President Trump is planning a specific Oval Office address, but he did announce via his own Twitter feed Tuesday night that he would be making a statement Wednesday morning.

All is well! Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far! I will be making a statement tomorrow morning.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2020

UPDATE: According to Reuters’ Jeff Mason, Trump will address the nation Wednesday at 11:00 AM Eastern:

.@realDonaldTrump will address the nation in a speech at 11:00 a.m. eastern -WH official

— Jeff Mason (@jeffmason1) January 8, 2020

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