Donald Trump has finally ended his media blacklist
For more than a year now, Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has been fending off charges of racism, sexism, Islamophobia, and Nazism from the media by systematically denying some of the biggest news organizations in the world press credentials to Trump’s campaign events.
Rather than answering journalists’ questions about whether he still believes that President Obama is secretly a Kenyan Muslim, if he knows he’s flirted directly with white supremacists, or if he really thinks that his outreach to the black community is being taken seriously, Trump’s opted instead to just shut his critiques out while and accusing them of covering his campaign (from afar) with unfair biases.
Beginning this week, however, all of that is set to change. According to a Trump spokesperson, as of this upcoming Thursday, reporters from previously blacklisted publications like Fusion’s parent company Univision, BuzzFeed, and The Washington Post will be able to apply for press credentials with confidence that they will be approved.
No one from Trump’s camp was immediately available for comment about their change in policy.
Trump’s refusal to officially invite reporters from certain organizations did not necessarily stop them from getting access to his events as regular citizens, but as CNN points out, the fact that the blacklist even became a thing in the first place sent a very strong message about what kind of places Trump rallies tend to be.
Over the past 15 months as Trump became the GOP presidential frontrunner and subsequent nominee, Trump’s campaign stops have become increasingly characterized by a mob-like mentality that actively cheers for acts of violence and the expulsion of those considered to be outsiders (like the media.)
It’s unclear what, if anything, the blacklist’s retiring will says about the Trump campaign’s feelings towards the press, but at the very least, it means that reporters should be able to get a better perspective of the day-to-day goings on of the presidential race from the Republicans’ perspective.