During a White House press conference on Tuesday, Press Secretary Sean Spicer took the first question from LifeZette, a pro-Trump, fake news website founded by Laura Ingraham in 2015.
At the start of the question portion of the briefing, Spicer immediately allowed the first inquiry from Jim Stinson of LifeZette, who went on to ask about immigration.
LifeZette, a site responsible for publishing untrue stories during the 2016 presidential campaign, promoted a conspiracy theory that Hillary and Bill Clinton had ties to the deaths of several colleagues and Democrats. The site features a mix of conservative politics, lifestyle and consumer content.
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The new administration broke with the tradition of calling upon major news outlets like The Associated Press to open White House press conferences and briefings.
This conference was yet another indication of how the new administration interacts with press. The 45th President recently continued his ongoing media feud by tweeting that CNN is “fake news” on Wednesday night.
Congratulations to @FoxNews for being number one in inauguration ratings. They were many times higher than FAKE NEWS @CNN - public is smart!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017
Additionally, the conference covered Trump’s executive actions, meetings with business leaders and his theory that millions voted illegally in the presidential election, amongst other topics.
When revival of the Dakota Pipeline was mentioned, Spicer said, “There’s a way that you can continue to negotiate that…the President has shown through his business life that he knows how to negotiate a great deal.”
Jesus take the wheel.