title:  Trump’s Team Just Slapped A TERRIFYING Label On The White House Press Corps – Gets Smacked HARD
text: Trump s war on the media didn t end with his election. On his planet, everything the media says about him that makes him look bad is just a vast conspiracy to undermine him and make him look bad. This immature attitude is beginning to bleed over onto the White House press corps now, who may find themselves without access to the White House very soon, because Trump and his team are seriously considering kicking them out of the White House press room.Yes, really, that s what they re considering. From Esquire:Another senior official, however, suggested a more pointed motivation for the move. According to the official, the potential relocation reflected a view within the transition team that coverage of Trump has been so hostile as to indicate that the press has abandoned its role as neutral observer. They are the opposition party,  a senior official says.  I want  em out of the building. We are taking back the press room. They re  the opposition party.  Well, isn t that a nice way of saying they re the enemy. They want sycophants in the press, not honest press.  We are taking back the press room.  Really? Who did it belong to before? Their idea of  taking back the press room  reeks of  taking back America. Or, to put it bluntly, they re remaking the White House and America into an image more to their liking. It s one that doesn t include anyone who opposes Trump.The press corps is, understandably, upset about this. Jeff Mason, presidential correspondent for Reuters and president of the White House Correspondents  Association, issued this statement in rebuke:My WHCA statement on press access to the White House briefing room. pic.twitter.com/kD9tS7ayt9  Jeff Mason (@jeffmason1) January 15, 2017And then there s the rest of Twitter:@grynbaum @maggieNYT First item on the authoritarian agenda.  Ray Beck (@niteowl41) January 15, 2017@henrykelley @grynbaum Yep, they need more room for Breitbart and other  news  organizations  Liz Sabado (@Wenican) January 15, 2017@jayrosen_nyu @AdrienneLaF   The Trump Administration: A cross between Nazi Germany and high school.  Amy Mullen (@MinnowSF) January 15, 2017@jayrosen_nyu @AdrienneLaF @esquire  So here s the 1st thing good autocrats do,  Putin said.  Evict the press. They re the opposition party  Larry Hanover (@larryhanover) January 15, 2017@jayrosen_nyu @AdrienneLaF @esquire Herr Drumpf has his own press corps; his Twitter account.  Joshua Aaron (@JAaronCA) January 15, 2017@dailydot History will judge those who were complicit in a corrupt trump administration, that is if there is any history  Lilith (@lilith2u) January 16, 2017@CBSNews an informed populace is a real threat to dictators pic.twitter.com/cKvuP7WrkZ  Trump Memes (@Trump__Memes) January 15, 2017Of course, Trump s pick for press secretary, Sean Spicer, is trying to spin this as a positive,  we really do care deeply about the White House press corps,  move: There s been so much interest in covering a President Donald Trump. A question is: Is a room that has forty-nine seats adequate? When we had that press conference the other day, we had thousands of requests, and we capped it at four hundred. Is there an opportunity to potentially allow more members of the media to be part of this? That s something we re discussing. The White House press room is supposed to be a symbol of a free press, but neither Trump nor anybody on his team believes in a free press. A free press is critical. A free press doesn t bow and scrape. Anytime they don t like what the press is reporting, they scream  FAKE NEWS!  And it should terrify all of us because it s the first real step they could take towards actually censoring the media.Featured image by Spencer Platt via Getty Images