President Donald Trump already has a tenuous relationship with the media and it became a little more so recently. On September 10th, Kathy Gray, a New York Times reporter, was removed from a Trump campaign rally in Michigan after tweeting out a photo of many in attendance not wearing masks. Those not wearing masks were in violation of Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Executive Order, which reads in part, “Michiganders are required to wear a face covering whenever they are in an indoor public space. It also requires the use of face coverings in crowded outdoor spaces. Businesses open to the public will refuse entry or service to those who decline to wear a face covering.”
In a tweet that has since been deleted, Gray wrote “Crammed in crowd in the rain for Trump rally in Michigan. Not many masks.” The tweet also included a picture containing visual evidence of her claim.
It was that picture that Gray claims led campaign officials to find her and ask her to leave the media area.
“They said because I was using my work Twitter account and since I didn’t have media credentials, I couldn’t be working there, and I had to leave” Gray told The Bridge Magazine.
Campaign officials told The Hill that Gray did not obtain press credentials through the normal process but she was allowed to see the rally from the “general public” area as long as she did not do any reporting. Gray admits she missed the deadline to request credentials, but did contact the Trump campaign numerous times, trying to attain the proper credentials. According to Gray, she never received a response from campaign officials.
The New York Times issued a statement in response to the incident.
“We’re disappointed that the Trump campaign refused to credential our freelancer and then, when she registered and attended as a member of the public, they ejected her from the event. Our goal is to cover these campaign events and talk to voters about the candidates, and that’s what Kathy was trying to do.”
Mr. Trump has previously referred to The Times as “A fake newspaper” and “A true enemy of the people”, which may offer some insight as to why Ms. Gray’s credential requests were not acknowledged.
Michigan is considered a battleground state by many political pundits. Mr. Trump won the Wolverine State’s 16 Electoral College votes in 2016, but is trailing Mr. Joe Biden by an average of nearly eight points in the latest statewide polling for the 2020 General Election.
Story written by BNM contributor Jacob Conley. Follow him on Twitter @GWUJake.
