The Hillary Clinton campaign's denial of access to a pool reporter from a British news outlet drew harsh criticism from MSNBC’s Morning Joe panel Tuesday.
Daily Mail reporter David Martosko was selected by the press covering Clinton to be the pool reporter in New Hampshire Monday. The Clinton team refused to allow him at events for conflicting reasons, and when Martosko said he needed to use the restroom, Clinton’s Secret Service detail told him to "hit the woods."
Unsurprisingly, the media has not taken well to the Clinton campaign denying media members access to campaign events.
"You know it isn’t actually that hard," New York Times reporter Nicholas Confessore said. "Just let the reporter into the event. The event is going to be her talking and her doing her event. There isn't a huge loss to anybody."
"So is anyone allowed in?" co-host Mika Brzezinski asked.
Host Joe Scarborough did not even finish the Clinton campaign spokesman’s statement on the matter, concluding with a "blah, blah, blah."
"The point is the campaign doesn't get to pick. If you are in the pool, the pool decides who covers it and the pool, itself, is a compromise," Confessore said.
Confessore explained that it is particularly troubling to deny the pool reporter access, because he represents the entire press when covering smaller events that won’t allow all reporters to attend.
"When you shut out that reporter, you are shutting out those other outlets from your event," he said.