NYPost Reporter Confronts Psaki On ‘Mysterious Pre-Screening Process’ for Which Reporters Cover Presidential Events
New York Post reporter Steven Nelson confronted White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Friday over an apparent lack of press access to presidential events at the White House.
“We as a press corps are fairly unanimous in our opposition to the mysterious pre-screening process that’s been going on for presidential events in the East Room,” said Nelson during the White House press briefing. “And so I’m hoping you can demystify for us how White House staffers are selecting which journalists get into these events.”
Nelson asked if it was “first come, first serve” and “how long will this pre-screening take place?”
“We are still in the middle of a pandemic, as you know. People are wearing masks in this room as a reflection of that,” replied Psaki. “We have requirements here as well among staff and I think we don’t have the size of numbers that we would all like to have in the East Room and we hope that we make changes to that soon.”
“Is that not important that we’re going to expand access and make sure more people can get into the East Wing?” she added.
Nelson followed up and again asked “how are the decisions made about who gets to go in?”
“There’s a limited number that we have based on how many people are attending as guests,” responded Psaki. “I don’t have any more information on that.”
Watch above, via ABC News.
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