Donald Trump reportedly insists he won't have a media blacklist if he's elected president.
In an interview with CNN, the GOP presumptive nominee said "it's a different thing" to yank press credentials for reporters covering a campaign than for those covering the president.
"In my case, I'm a person running for office," he told CNN. "I rent these large arenas ... so I have an option" to deny press access for journalists covering the campaign.
"When I'm representing the United States, I wouldn't do that," he adds. "But I would let people know if somebody's untruthful."
The list of newsrooms Trump has labeled as unfair and banned from his campaign events include The Washington Post, Univision, Buzz Feed, Politico, The Daily Beast, The Huffington Post, and The Des Moines Register.
Trump tells CNN he hadn't spoken with the editor at The Washington Post — the
latest media outlet to be denied press credentials.
"All I want is to be treated fairly," he tells CNN. "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's ire at the Post was triggered in part by an online headline that read: "Donald Trump suggests President Obama was involved with Orlando shooting." It was later changed to say: "Donald Trump seems to connect President Obama to Orlando shooting."
"I never said anything like that. I never implied anything like that," Trump tells CNN, adding, "for them to imply it is a disgrace."
"Just so you understand, I have great respect for professionals in your profession, in your business, in your world," he tells CNN.
"I have great respect. There are many I have such great respect for. It's something really to be admired. But when people write false stories, when they write lies, when they write stories that have no bearing on the truth, when they say things that are so wrong, and they know they're wrong, and they tell me that they know they're wrong, but they refuse to change them, then I say, they're not going to come anymore."
Though a Des Moines Register editor
tweeted out a question of whether "a Trump White House" would "even have a briefing room," the real estate mogul said there's nothing to worry about.
"Whoever chooses the people that get the press credentials, I wouldn't even tamper with that, frankly," he said. "It's a much different situation than what I'm doing right now."
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