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Tags: sean spicer | presser | non-traditional media | john gizzi | questions

Non-Traditional Media, Including Newsmax's Gizzi, Get Questions at Spicer's First WH Presser

Non-Traditional Media, Including Newsmax's Gizzi, Get Questions at Spicer's First WH Presser

(MSNBC)

By    |   Monday, 23 January 2017 04:58 PM EST

Traditional media outlets had to wait their turn as the more conservative-leaning New York Post and Christian Broadcasting Network got the first three questions at Sean Spicer's first White House daily news briefing on Monday.

President Donald Trump's press secretary first called on the New York Post's Daniel Halper, who also is author of the book "Clinton, Inc.: The Audacious Rebuilding of a Political Machine."

The next two questions came from the CBN News, founded by conservative Christian television evangelist Pat Robertson.

Later in the press conference, Spicer took a question from Newsmax's White House correspondent and chief political columnist John Gizzi.

Traditionally, the Associated Press is called on to ask the first question, but the AP's Julie Pace, sitting on the front row with broadcast and cable news correspondents, was not called on until after four other questions had been asked.

CNN's Jake Tapper took notice, calling it a "new day" in the press' relationship with the White House.

"I don't want anyone to think I'm complaining about this, but the order in which he called on people suggests it is a new day when it comes to who this White House considers being priorities in terms of being called on," Tapper said afterward.

The New York Post, Tapper added, "I think it's fair to say, is Donald Trump's favorite newspaper. He was definitely trying to make a point about the media that he is going to prioritize."

Halper told Fox News Channel's Neil Cavuto he was "taken by surprise" when he was called on first.

"I was glad that I was asked the first question," he said. "I think it's really good that more people, different people it seemed, will be asked questions from this administration. I think that's important. Different people will ask different questions and hopefully that will elicit some sort of news and get a better understanding of how this administration might work."

Trump has had a rocky relationship with the press throughout his campaign, often calling them out as dishonest during his rallies. That has continued into the first days of his presidency, as he took them on over crowd size reports during a Saturday meeting at CIA headquarters.

Spicer, later the same day, read a statement from the press briefing room podium excoriating members of the press who he said had inaccurately reported how many people had viewed Trump's inauguration and a Newsweek reporter who inaccurately tweeted that Trump had removed a bust of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. from the Oval Office.

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Traditional media outlets had to wait their turn as the more conservative-leaning New York Post and Christian Broadcasting Network got the first three questions at Sean Spicer's first White House daily news briefing on Monday.
sean spicer, presser, non-traditional media, john gizzi, questions
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2017-58-23
Monday, 23 January 2017 04:58 PM
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