Donald Trump has refused to give press credentials to several news organizations as a presidential candidate, but says he wouldn’t do that as president.
“It’s a different thing,” Trump told CNN’s Brian Stelter. “In my case, I’m a person running for office. I rent these large arenas… so I have an option. When I’m representing the United States, I wouldn’t do that. But I would let people know if somebody’s untruthful.”
Journalists are not able to attend Trump press conferences without credentials. Trump’s campaign has blocked access from numerous organizations including BuzzFeed, Politico and Univision.
Earlier this week, Trump yanked the credentials for the Washington Post over its “dishonest” reporting.
“All I want is to be treated fairly,” Trump said. “By the way, if I have a bad story, that’s okay, if it’s true. If I deserve it. You know, I’ll deserve bad stories on occasion. Hopefully not too often.”
Trump says that if he’s elected he wouldn’t “tamper” with whoever selects which media members receive press credentials.
“It’s a much different situation than what I’m doing right now,” he said.
Trump has gotten angry with the Post several times in recent memory, but the headline for an article posted on Monday appears to have sparked the recent ban: “Donald Trump suggests President Obama was involved with Orlando shooting.”
“I never said anything like that. I never implied anything like that. For them to imply it is a disgrace,” Trump said.
The Post headline was eventually changed to: “Donald Trump seems to connect President Obama to Orlando shooting.”