Mike Pompeo Rebuffs Attacks from Offended Reporters: ‘Enormously Frustrating’

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took time during Friday’s coronavirus press briefing to rebuff multiple attacks from offended journalists who repeatedly asked if President Trump’s treatment of the press is sending a negative message to other countries during the coronavirus pandemic.

Pompeo addressed questions concerning disinformation, which some reporters purportedly viewed as an opportunity to knock the president.

“What message do you think it sends to other countries when you have the President of the United States lashing out at reporters?” PBS White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor asked.

“I’ve had my frustrations with reporters, too. All I ask when I talk to the media is that you listen to what we say and report it accurately. And it’s frustrating,” he said as brief banter erupted.

“It’s enormously frustrating. We have a responsibility to tell the American people the truth,” he continued. “And those who are reporting on what it is we are doing and saying have an equal responsibility to report accurately.”

However, Alcindor remained unsatisfied with the answer and repeated her question.

Pompeo added that he has witnessed inaccurate reports “on multiple occasions” and said that in those instances, he spoke to the reporters and will “continue to do so.”

The topic also came up earlier in the briefing as Pompeo addressed the issue of disinformation.

“We’ve certainly seen it come from places like China and Russia and Iran,” he said of the “coordinated efforts to disparage what America is doing.”

He added that the administration is doing “lots of things” to fight back and stressed the importance of the American people going to “trusted sources for their information”:

But we’ve made clear we’ve spoken to these countries directly that they need to knock it off, that we don’t approve of it. And there are a handful of other things we’re engaged in to make sure the right information is out there and accurate information is given. This idea of transparency and accurate information is very important. It’s how we protect American people from something like this ever happening again.

“Does it undermine you at all when the president stands up here and attacks news outlets, calling us untrustworthy?” Jill Colvin, White House reporter for the Associated Press, asked.

“Does anybody else have a question?” Pompeo said as President Trump shook his head.

White House