Trump campaign says it won’t grant press credentials to Bloomberg reporters

President Trump’s reelection campaign will no longer grant media credentials for rallies and other campaign events to Bloomberg News journalists.

The policy, announced on Monday by Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale, came more than a week after the top editor at Bloomberg News told editorial and research staff that the company would not conduct in-depth investigations of Michael Bloomberg or his rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination.

{mosads}By refraining from such investigative reporting, Bloomberg News had all but formalized “preferential reporting policies.”

“Since they have declared their bias openly, the Trump campaign will no longer credential representatives of Bloomberg News for rallies or other campaign events,” Parscale said in a statement. “We will determine whether to engage with individual reporters or answer inquiries from Bloomberg News on a case-by-case basis. This will remain the policy of the Trump campaign until Bloomberg News publicly rescinds its decision.”

Following Parscale’s announcement, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said that the GOP would follow the Trump campaign’s lead and withhold media credentials from Bloomberg journalists.

“Media outlets should be independent and fair, and this decision proves that Bloomberg News is neither,” McDaniel tweeted. “The @GOP stands with @TeamTrump and will no longer credential Bloomberg representatives.”

Media outlets should be independent and fair, and this decision proves that Bloomberg News is neither.

The @GOP stands with @TeamTrump and will no longer credential Bloomberg representatives. https://t.co/nxWiBbEI0s

— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) December 2, 2019

The Trump campaign and RNC’s decisions to refuse media credentials for Bloomberg News reporters underscores the difficult position journalists at the company find themselves in as Michael Bloomberg, the company’s founder and owner, embarks on an eleventh-hour White House run.

In a memo to staff last month, editor-in-chief John Micklethwait said that Bloomberg’s news outlets would “continue our tradition of not investigating Mike (and his family and foundation) and will extend the same policy to his rivals in the Democratic primaries.” 

“We cannot treat Mike’s democratic competitors differently from him,” Micklethwait wrote. 

At the same time, Bloomberg’s outlets “will continue to investigate the Trump administration, as the government of the day,” Micklethwait wrote, though he added that the news organization will “reassess how to do that” if Bloomberg wins the Democratic nomination next year and must face Trump in a general election matchup.

In a separate memo reported by CNBC, Bloomberg himself said that he would turn over control of the company to a management committee during his presidential campaign. 

“This is not the first time I’ve stepped away to run for office,” Bloomberg wrote. “And like the last time, we have put in place an outstanding leadership team to take the reins.”

Micklethwait rejected Parscale’s allegations of bias on Monday, insisting that Bloomberg’s news outlets have covered Trump fairly throughout his political career and would do so regardless of the Trump campaign’s restrictions. 

“The accusation of bias couldn’t be further from the truth,” Micklethwait said in a statement. “We have covered Donald Trump fairly and in an unbiased way since he became a candidate in 2015 and will continue to do so despite the restrictions imposed by the Trump campaign.”