Leland Vittert Blasts WHCA President and Reported MSNBC Host Eugene Daniels Handling of Trump Press Pool Flap: ‘Overt Partisans!’

NewsNation’s Leland Vittert torched White House Correspondents’ Association President Eugene Daniels on Wednesday night, scoffing at Daniels’s outrage over President Donald Trump’s controversial announcement that the White House is taking more control of the White House press pool.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt made waves this week when she announced that the administration is breaking with tradition and not allowing the WHCA to determine what outlets join press pool events. Leavitt accused the WHCA of having a “monopoly,” while Daniels condemned the action and revealed the administration had not discussed the measure with the WHCA before announcing its decision.

Vittert argued on Wednesday’s edition of On Balance that the WHCA mostly consists of “overt partisans,” including Daniels. Vittert blasted the WHCA president and said Trump “would be crazy” to think he or anyone else from “legacy media” will offer fair coverage. Daniels is reportedly set to host a roundtable weekend show on MSNBC, a network Trump often refers to as “MSDNC.”

“The press corps over the past ten years, maybe longer, has overplayed their hand by claiming to be a non-partisan group,” Vittert said, labeling Daniels as “highly partisan.”

The NewsNation host played clips of Daniels saying Trump saves “most angry self for Black women” and that the president has gotten “angrier.”

Vittert argued Trump “would be crazy” to continue letting the WHCA control press pool events.

The “legacy media,” he argued, “is destroying itself while blaming Trump and others for their troubles.”

Vittert said:

Let’s be clear. Trump’s White House would be crazy to allow Eugene Daniels and his association to decide who is covering the president. These are the same correspondents who stayed silent when Biden cut 442 reporters press credentials and blocked their access to the White House. The Daily Wire reports the corps took a noncommittal stance back then. Some reporters even defended it. When you have overt partisans like Eugene Daniels as the White House Correspondents’ Association president, you give up your right to be called nonpartisan. Therefore, you give up your credibility. When the Associated Press, who’s over access to Air Force One on First Amendment grounds, they lose their credibility as well. Trump isn’t destroying the legacy media, they are destroying themselves. It’s kind of sad.

Watch above via NewsNation.