Washington Post Editor Fires Back at Trump’s ‘Unwarranted and Dangerous’ Threats to Reporters

Washington Post executive editor Martin Baron responded to President Donald Trump in a statement on Saturday after the president attacked two Post reporters and threatened to ban them from the White House over critical reporting.

“The Washington Post staff is immensely proud to have these two superb journalists on staff,” Baron wrote in his statement, which was issued by Post communications VP Kris Coratti.

“Philip Rucker and Ashley Parker have consistently demonstrated their integrity in covering the White House. We stand fully behind them and their important work,” Baron wrote, concluding his statement with a condemnation of the president’s attack: “The president’s statement fits into a pattern of seeking to denigrate and intimidate the press. It’s unwarranted and dangerous, and it represents a threat to a free press in this country.”

Trump lashed out at the two Post reporters on Saturday morning in response to a story describing his “lost summer,” which they described as a season “defined by self-inflicted controversies and squandered opportunities.”

“The Washington Post’s @PhilipRucker (Mr. Off the Record) & @AshleyRParker, two nasty lightweight reporters, shouldn’t even be allowed on the grounds of the White House because their reporting is so DISGUSTING & FAKE,” Trump wrote. “Also, add the appointment of MANY Federal Judges this Summer!”

That Post report also prompted a furious response in the form of an op-ed, written by White House communications staffers Stephanie Grisham and Hogan Gidley, accusing the paper of ignoring the president’s accomplishments. The examples put forth by Grisham and Gidley were all covered by the Post.

[Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images]

Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com