A Washington Post reporter openly suggested that the Biden White House censor so-called “misinformation” stemming from the interview between X owner Elon Musk and former President Trump.
At Monday’s press briefing, The Washington Post’s Cleve Wootson Jr. discussed Musk’s highly anticipated viral conversation with Trump that night, insisting that misinformation is not a “campaign problem” but also “an American problem.”
“What role does the White House or the president play in preventing this or preventing the spread of this virus or intervening in this area? Some of it was campaign misinformation, but it’s a larger issue, right?” Wootson Jr. asked White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre.
X FOND AFTER TRUMP-MUSK ‘SPACE’ INTERVIEW IMMEDIATELY ENDED
Washington Post reporter Cleve Wootson Jr. asked how the White House could crack down on “misinformation” emerging from the Trump-Musk interview. (Getty Images/ABC News)
Jean-Pierre responded to the reporter that social media companies have a “responsibility” to combat misinformation on their platforms, adding that the Biden administration is “aware” that these are private companies.
“It’s extremely important to highlight this, as you do. I just don’t have the details of what we’ve done internally,” Jean-Pierre added.
AP DOWNSIZES NEED TO TALK TO PRESS ABOUT KAMALA HARRIS: CANDIDATE INTERVIEWS ‘ARE NOT WHAT THEY USED TO BE’
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre declined to reveal what the Biden administration is doing “internally” to combat so-called “disinformation.” (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images))
Critics have criticized the exchange on social media.
“My God,” responded Tom Bevan, co-founder of RealClearPolitics.
“That’s an insane thing for a journalist to say,” podcast host Noam Blum said.
“This is truly pathetic, @CleveWootson,” conservative lawyer Mike Davis told the liberal journalist. “You’re a White House reporter for @washingtonpost. And you think your job is to collaborate with the White House spokesperson to censor Americans you disagree with? Do you understand how stupid and dangerous you sound? You’re truly disgraceful.”
“I hope everyone else at the Post will abandon this anti-free speech campaign,” wrote Washington Examiner columnist Tim Carney.
“Democracy dies in the dark,” said Charles C.W. Cooke, editor of National Review, invoking the Post’s slogan.
The Washington Post and its reporter have been criticized on social media for suggesting the White House censor so-called “misinformation” from the Trump-Musk interview. ((Eric BARADAT /AFP))
KAMALA HARRIS HAS AVOIDED INTERVIEWS FOR MORE THAN TWO WEEKS SINCE SHE BECAME THE DEMOCRAT PARTY’S NOMINEE
“The Washington Post is trying to get the government to end private interviews with presidential candidates. Because democracy dies when people speak freely,” Sunny, a conservative personality on X, similarly quipped.
“These people need to lose their jobs,” said Stephen L. Miller, host of the Versus Media podcast.
“This Washington Post propagandist, @CleveWootson, is an anti-speech activist. Here he is begging the Biden administration to punish @elonmusk for doing journalism,” wrote Mollie Hemingway, editor of the Federalist.
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The Washington Post did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The Trump-Musk interview got off to a rocky start Monday night, as the “Space” immediately crashed, telling X users “This space is not available.”
Musk claimed the crash was the result of a “DDOS” [distributed denial-of-service] attack on 𝕏.” The interview officially took place about 40 minutes later, and the pair continued to talk for more than two hours.
