Karoline Leavitt attacked AP News today for ignoring the new regime's demand that the Gulf of Mexico now be called the "Gulf of America." The snippy Press Secretary then took it a step further, referring to the original name itself as a "lie."
"I was very upfront in my briefing on Day One, that if we feel that there are lies being pushed by outlets in this room, we are going to hold those lies accountable," 27-year-old Leavitt said, insinuating in the sternest of tones that reporters at AP are liars for sticking to their morals, not to mention their style guide.
"And it is a fact that the body of water off the coast of Louisiana is called the Gulf of America," she added. "And I'm not sure why news outlets don't want to call it that, but that is what it is." (See video below, posted by Acyn.)
To punish AP for its insubordination, the Musk-Trump administration barred one of the outlet's reporters from attending yesterday's joint press conference in the Oval Office. And as Leavitt reminded reporters in the room today, "Nobody has the right to go into the Oval Office and ask the President of the United States questions — that's an invitation that is given." Or taken away.
From The Hill:
After Trump moved to change the name of the body of water, the AP — which provides style guides for a number of other news outlets around the country — updated its policy saying it would refer to the Gulf of Mexico "by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen."
News of the wire service being barred from certain White House events sparked swift pushback from press freedom groups and the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA).
"The White House cannot dictate how news organizations report the news, nor should it penalize working journalists because it is unhappy with their editors' decisions," the WHCA said in a statement. "The move by the administration to bar a reporter from The Associated Press from an official event open to news coverage today is unacceptable."
