Staff at the now Trump-friendly CBS News have blasted the network’s decision to invite Pete Hegseth to attend the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
The defense secretary was invited to attend the swanky black-tie event by CBS News and its new MAGA-curious boss, Bari Weiss. The dinner, where politicians and White House officials mingle with high-profile members of the press, is scheduled for April 25.
The decision sparked immediate backlash, given that Hegseth has repeatedly attacked press freedom and insulted journalists. He has demanded that the Pentagon press corps only cover talking points he approves, and has banned photographers who took less-than-flattering photos of him.
One CBS News staffer told Status that inviting Hegseth to the dinner was “deeply disappointing,” while another suggested it amounted to an “access play” by Weiss and CBS, at the expense of the network’s journalists.
Elsewhere, an executive from a rival network said the Hegseth invitation was a “slap in the face to the journalists at CBS News to invite the man leading the fight to unilaterally shut down press freedoms in this country.”
“Nothing says celebrating press freedoms like the man who won’t even let photographers in the room for fear they’d miss his good side,” the executive told Status.
Donald Trump is also set to attend the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner for the first time as president after previously boycotting it.
The 79-year-old, who has made attacking journalists and “fake news” a key part of his political brand, will be returning to the scene of a humiliating moment in 2011, when President Barack Obama and comedian Seth Meyers ruthlessly mocked Trump’s presidential ambitions.
Hegseth has also shown a willingness to follow Trump’s playbook by attacking members of the press for doing their jobs.
On Wednesday, he lashed out at an NBC News reporter who tried to get the defense secretary to explain why Iran was still firing ballistic missiles across the Middle East even after Trump’s proposed two-week ceasefire had been agreed.
“Excuse me. Why are you so rude?” Hegseth said while trying to answer another question. “Just wait. So nasty.”
Hegseth also blasted “typical ABC” when a reporter tried to get him to explain the administration’s contradictory and inflammatory rhetoric about the Iran war.
“I try to be nice up here, but did you listen to what I said?” the defense secretary said during a Wednesday press conference.
Elsewhere, HuffPost has confirmed it will not attend the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, as the outlet does not want to rub shoulders with an administration that frequently attacks and derides the press.
“HuffPost refuses to celebrate journalism and laugh alongside an administration and president that regularly attacks the free press, weaponizes the FCC, and threatens to jail journalists,” a person familiar with the decision told Status.
The Daily Beast has contacted CBS News for comment.
