Leavitt: Outlets Who “Lie” About “The Fact” That The Name Is Gulf Of America Will Continue To Be Punished

KAITLAN COLLINS: “Which White House official made the decision to bar the AP reporter from the Oval Office and the diplomatic reception room last night?”

KAROLINE LEAVITT: “First of all, let me just set the record straight. It is a privilege to cover this White House. It is a privilege to be the White House press secretary. And nobody has the right to go into the Oval Office and ask a president of the United States questions, that is an invitation that is given. We reserve the right to decide who gets to go into the Oval Office.”

COLLINS: “But isn’t it retaliatory in nature, is the argument, because the reason that the AP was barred, which they said was because they are not using the phrase Gulf of America, they are using Gulf of Mexico in line with their standards. And so the question here is, is this setting a precedent where this White House will retaliate against reporters who don’t use the language you guys believe reporters should use and how does that align with the First Amendment commitment that you were just talking about?”

LEAVITT: “I was upfront on day one if we feel that there are lies being pushed by outlets in this room, we are going to hold those lies accountable, and it is a fact that the body of water off the coast of Louisiana is called the Gulf of America, and I am not sure why news outlets don’t want to call it that, but that is what it is. The secretary of interior has made that the official designation, and geographical identification name server, and Apple has recognized that, Google has recognized that.”