Fox News on Wednesday came out in support of CNN after one of CNN’s reporters was reportedly banned from a White House event.
“We stand in strong solidarity with CNN for the right to full access for our journalists as part of a free and unfettered press,” Fox News president Jay Wallace said in a statement on Wednesday evening.
CNN reported on Wednesday that White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and deputy chief of staff for communications Bill Shine barred a CNN reporter from attending a Rose Garden press event.
{mosads}The two officials reportedly told CNN White House reporter Kaitlan Collins that she “shouted” and asked “inappropriate questions” earlier during President Trump’s meeting with European Union commissioner Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday afternoon.
They said she was barred from the press availability with Juncker and Trump that afternoon due to this behavior.
Sanders said in a statement that the White House told Collins that another reporter from CNN was welcome to attend the event. Collins has not commented.
Collins was acting as the “pool reporter” for all networks when she was allowed into the Oval Office during Trump’s meeting with Juncker earlier that day. She asked the president questions about the day’s most talked-about stories, which is typical for a pool reporter, according to CNN.
She asked, “Did Michael Cohen betray you, Mr. President?” and repeated the question once, according to CNN.
She then asked, “Mr. President, are you worried about what Michael Cohen is about to say to the prosecutors? Are you worried about what is on the other tapes, Mr. President?”
When Trump didn’t respond, Collins asked, “Why is Vladimir Putin not accepting your invitation, Mr. President?”
Trump reportedly ignored the questions and said, “Thank you very much, everybody” to the press pool.
CNN reported that Collins asked the questions at a normal volume.
Fox News and CNN are considered competitors. Trump has appeared on Fox News, which is favored by conservatives, multiple times during his presidency while often referring to CNN as “fake news.”
This month, Trump refused to take a question from CNN’s Jim Acosta during another press event. He then turned to Fox reporter John Roberts, who asked him a question.
Later, Roberts released a statement in which he did not mention Acosta by name, but offered support to CNN as a network.
“In today’s press conference, I paused while my colleague from CNN went back and forth with President Trump over a question,” Roberts said at the time. “When it became clear that the president wasn’t going to entertain a question from him, I proceeded with my question, as did my fellow colleagues in the press corps.”