Washington Post reporter asks White House what 'role' it has in stopping 'misinformation' from Trump-Musk interview
Washington Post's Cleve Wootson Jr. asks White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre what "role" the Biden administration has in stopping "misinformation" from the Trump-Musk interview.
A reporter for The Washington Post openly suggested that the Biden White House censor so-called "misinformation" from the interview between X owner Elon Musk and former President Trump.
During Monday's press briefing, the Washington Post's Cleve Wootson Jr. invoked Musk's highly anticipated viral conversation with Trump that night, insisting misinformation is not a "campaign issue" but "an America issue" as well.
"What role does the White House or the president have in sort of stopping that or stopping the spread of that or sort of intervening in that? Some of that was about campaign misinformation, but, you know, it’s a wider thing, right?" Wootson Jr. asked White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
X MELTS DOWN AFTER TRUMP-MUSK INTERVIEW'S ‘SPACE’ IMMEDIATELY CRASHES
Washington Post reporter Cleve Wootson Jr. asked how the White House could crack down on "misinformation" from the Trump-Musk interview. (Getty Images/ABC News)
Jean-Pierre responded by telling the reporter that social media companies have a "responsibility" of clamping down on misinformation on their platforms, adding that the Biden administration is "mindful" that they are private companies.
"It is incredibly important to call that out, as you’re doing. I just don’t have any specifics on what we have been doing internally," Jean-Pierre added.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refrained from sharing what the Biden administration is doing "internally" to crack down on so-called "misinformation." ( Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images))
Critics slammed the exchange on social media.
"My God," RealClearPolitics co-founder Tom Bevan reacted.
"An insane thing for a reporter to say," podcast host Noam Blum said.
"Truly pathetic, @CleveWootson," conservative lawyer Mike Davis told the liberal journalist. "You are a White House reporter for @washingtonpost. And you think your job is to collude with the White House press secretary to censor Americans with whom you disagree? Do you understand how dumb and dangerous you sound? You're truly shameful."
"I hope everyone else at the Post forswears this anti-free-speech campaigning," Washington Examiner columnist Tim Carney wrote.
"Democracy Dies in Darkness," National Review senior editor Charles C.W. Cooke said, invoking the Post's slogan.
The Washington Post and its reporter were slammed 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 BECOMING DEM NOMINEE
"The Washington Post trying to get the government to shut down private citizen interviews with presidential candidates. Because democracy dies in people speaking freely," conservative X personality Sunny similarly quipped.
"These people need to lose their jobs," Versus Media podcast host Stephen L. Miller said.
"This Washington Post propagandist @CleveWootson is an anti-speech activist. Here he begs Biden admin to punish @elonmusk for doing journalism," The Federalist editor-in-chief Mollie Hemingway wrote.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The Washington Post did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
The Trump-Musk interview was off to a rocky start Monday night as the "Space" immediately crashed, telling X users "This Space is unavailable."
Musk claimed the crash was the result of a "DDOS [distributed denial-of-service] attack on 𝕏." The interview officially took place roughly 40 minutes later, and the pair went on to speak for more than two hours.
Fox News First
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox.
By entering your email and clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to the Fox News Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. You understand that you can opt-out at any time.