An apparently angry President Donald Trump tweeted Saturday morning that two prestigious Washington Post writers should be prohibited from entering White House grounds due to what he called their “DISGUSTING & FAKE” reporting. Philip Rucker, the paper’s Washington bureau chief and Ashley Parker, a White House reporter for the paper were singled out in a tweet in which the president also retweeted his own earlier tweet of an op-ed by White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham and Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley titled “The Washington Post’s Lost Summer” published in the Washington Examiner refuting a story the duo wrote about Trump’s tumultuous summer. “The Washington Post’s @PhilipRucker (Mr. Off the Record) & @AshleyRParker, two nasty lightweight reporters, shouldn’t even be allowed on the grounds of the White House because their reporting is so DISGUSTING & FAKE,” the president tweeted. Post executive editor Marty Baron said in a statement that Rucker and Parker have “consistently demonstrated their integrity in covering the White House,” adding,“the president’s statement fits into a pattern of seeking to denigrate and intimidate the press.”The White House has taken away press passes before. CNN’s Jim Acosta and Playboy reporter Brian Karem have both had their passes temporarily revoked.
