Trump campaign denies Brian Stelter press credentials, tells him to buy ticket

This includes former CNN chief media correspondent Brian Stelter, who modeled his platform on disparaging Trump and is now a special correspondent for Vanity Fair, as well as other reporters from mainstream publications such as The Washington Post and Axios.

The Trump campaign explained that those who have been denied press credentials have engaged in unethical practices and have breached basic journalistic standards.

Vanity Fair published an article on the matter, which was confirmed by Stelter on Friday in a post on X.

"This is true and I know it firsthand — I applied for press credentials for Trump's most recent rally in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania and was rejected," Stelter wrote on X.

Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Team Trump, responded to Vanity Fair on behalf of the Trump campaign, stating that while they may not have granted press credentials for specific reporters, anybody can attend their events by applying for general admission tickets.

"Nobody has been denied any access to our events," said Cheung.

"If reporters want to cover our events but are unable to secure a coveted press badge, they are more than welcome to apply for general admission tickets in order to experience our events. Throughout this campaign, we have been the most press-friendly and accessible [campaign] in modern history. We have flown reporters on Trump Force One, let them livestream from inside our motorcades, and given access that has never been granted during legal days. We don’t let petty differences get in the way of using the media to get our message out," he added.

"However," Cheung continued, "there have been certain reporters who have engaged in unethical conduct or breached basic journalistic standards of sharing privileged information to other campaigns and individuals."

"Unfortunately for those people, they can never be trusted again and will never be given the benefit of the doubt on this campaign or when we return to the White House," he added.

It's unclear who else has been denied press credentials, but when Vanity Fair reached out to additional mainstream networks and publications, the majority did not provide comment out of fear that they might be banned from covering Trump events in the future, the outlet reported.