Washington Blade snubbed by White House
by Joe Siegel
The Washington Blade has been given the cold shoulder by the White House and its press secretary.
“Even though I regularly attend the briefings on behalf of the Blade each day they’re held, the last time a White House press secretary called on me during an on-camera news conference was in May,” wrote the Blade’s chief political and White House reporter, Chris Johnson, in an October piece in the Blade headlined, “Why is White House ignoring the Blade.”
Johnson said the last time he had the chance to have a question answered was when Sean Spicer was still serving as press secretary. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who now holds the position, has not been as welcoming.
“Many times during the briefings, I see Sanders look directly at me as I raise my hand for a question, but she nonetheless skips me for another reporter, usually from a conservative, Trump-friendly outlet like Breitbart or Newsmax,” Johnson said, adding that the “White House refuses to take inquiries from the only LGBT publication in the White House at a time when the administration continuously rolls out anti-LGBT policies.”
According to Johnson, “prior to joining the Trump administration, Sanders headed the American Principles Fund, a super PAC with ties to the anti-LGBT National Organization for Marriage that essentially attacked Republican candidates for not being anti-gay enough.”
Blade editor Kevin Naff said Johnson did get to ask a question of Sanders the day after his story ran on the Blade web site. However, Naff noted Johnson is still being ignored.
Naff said Sanders has been contacted about her treatment of Johnson. Sanders told Naff that “it hasn’t been intentional.”
TOP STORY
Volume 19
Issue 9
