Washington: Donald Trump has revoked the press credentials of The Washington Post, accusing the leading US daily of writing "incredibly inaccurate" reports about him and his presidential election campaign.
"Based on the incredibly inaccurate coverage and reporting of the record setting Trump campaign, we are hereby revoking the press credentials of the phony and dishonest Washington Post," Trump, the Republican presumptive presidential nominee, wrote on his Facebook page.
"I am no fan of President (Barack) Obama, but to show you how dishonest the phony Washington Post is, they wrote,
'Donald Trump suggests President Obama was involved with Orlando shooting' as their headline. Sad!" he wrote in another post. However, The Post, said in a statement that it would continue to cover the 70-year-old real estate billionaire Trump as usual.
"Donald Trump's decision to revoke The Washington Post's press credentials is nothing less than a repudiation of the role of a free and independent press," said The Washington Post Editor Martin Baron.
"When coverage doesn't correspond to what the candidate wants it to be, then a news organisation is banished," he alleged.
"The Post will continue to cover Donald Trump as it has all along - honorably, honestly, accurately, energetically, and unflinchingly. We're proud of our coverage, and we're going to keep at it," Baron said in a statement.
But the Trump Campaign stood by its decision. "The Washington Post unfortunately covers Mr Trump very inaccurately," the campaign said in a statement.
"Today's headline, 'Donald Trump Suggests President Obama Was Involved With Orlando Shooting' is a perfect example. We no longer feel compelled to work with a publication which has put its need for 'clicks' above journalistic integrity," the campaign said.
"They have no journalistic integrity and write falsely about Mr Trump. Mr Trump does not mind a bad story, but it has to be honest," the brief statement said. "The fact is, The Washington Post is being used by the owners of Amazon as their political lobbyist so that they don't have to pay taxes and don't get sued for monopolistic tendencies that have led to the destruction of department stores and the retail industry," the Campaign alleged.
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