Vice President JD Vance called press reporter Mehdi Hasan a “dummy” Monday on X after Hasan asked him if he would certainly check out a short article regarding the White House punishing The Associated Press for remaining to describe the Gulf of Mexico by its historical name.
Retweeting an Axios article on the White House’s disagreement with the AP, Hasan had written, “Hey [Vance], I know you’re busy lecturing the Europeans on free speech, but have you seen this?” Hasan was describing Vance’s X posts calling out the “lunacy” of Germany prosecuting hate speech.
“Yes dummy,” Vance replied “I think there’s a difference between not giving a reporter a seat in the WH press briefing room and jailing people for dissenting views. The latter is a threat to free speech, the former is not. Hope that helps!”
Hasan, that helped HuffPost UK and is currently the editor-in-chief of Zeteo, later on wrote on his site that he was “amused” Vance had actually called him a name “like a second-grader.”
“I get that Elon [Musk] and Donald [Trump] are running the country while JD tries to find a purpose in life, but surely the one elected official who is a heartbeat away from the most powerful job on Earth must have more to do with his time than just… post,” Hasan created.
Last week, the White House started targeting the AP after the wire service declined to mandate making use of “Gulf of America,” the brand-new name President Donald Trump provided the Gulf of Mexico, in its prominent stylebook. The White House barred the AP from going to an exec order finalizing and later on announced that the electrical outlet might shed its accessibility to some press rooms forever.
“This isn’t just about the Gulf of America,” White House replacement principal of teamTaylor Budowich told Axios “This is about AP weaponizing language through their stylebook to push a partisan worldview in contrast with the traditional and deeply held beliefs of many Americans and many people around the world.”
Lauren Easton, vice head of state of company interactions of the AP, told Axios that AP’s stylebook, which several information magazines utilize as a referral on language, “doesn’t align with any particular agenda.”
The AP has actually claimed that it will certainly remain to call the worldwide body of water the Gulf of Mexico, as it is recognized in other places, while likewise recognizing the brand-new name Trump has actually offered it.
“As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences,” the AP said in the declaration.
