White House Press Secretary Says AP Was Blocked From Oval Office Event To Hold It “Accountable” For Not Changing Name Of Gulf Of Mexico

deadline.com:

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday defended the decision to block the Associated Press from access to an Oval Office event earlier this week, saying they were trying to hold the news organization “accountable” for not renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.

Pressed at today’s briefing by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Leavitt said, “I was very upfront in my briefing on day one, that if we feel there are lies being pushed by outlets in this room, we are going to hold those lies accountable.” She noted that after Trump signed his executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico, the name change was reflected in Google and Apple maps.

But the AP — along with press and First Amendment groups — have protested the move to punish a news outlet over their editorial content.

Per the New York Times, Julie Pace, the executive editor of the AP, wrote a letter to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, “The actions taken by the White House were plainly intended to punish the AP for the content of its speech.