Republicans are sounding the alarm after a reporter with ties to China's propaganda machine gained access to Monday's White House coronavirus press briefing and used the platform to promote Beijing's efforts -- even as right-leaning outlets, including One America News Network (OANN), were being denied seating privileges at the briefings.
Fox News reports several lawmakers said late Monday that the possibility China was spreading propaganda in the White House clearly merited immediate action, especially given Democrats' stated concerns about foreign interference in U.S. politics.
"Only last week, there were multiple flights coming from China full of medical supplies," the reporter from Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV began. "Companies like Huawei and Alibaba have been donating to the United States, like 1.5 million N95 masks and also a lot of medical gloves, and much more medical supplies --"
"Sounds like a statement more than a question," Trump interjected.
“Who are you working for, China?”@realDonaldTrump questions whether a reporter for Phoenix TV works for China. pic.twitter.com/sLnPlQAoRz— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) April 7, 2020
The reporter then asked if Trump was willing to work "directly" with China; Trump responded that China should honor its trade deals with the United States.
"Are you cooperating with China?" she pressed. "Who are you working for, China?" Trump responded. "Who are you with?"
The reporter smiled. "Um, no, I'm working for -- Hong Kong Phoenix TV."
"Who owns that? China?" Trump asked.
"It's based in Hong Kong. ... It's a privately owned company."
But, according to Fox News, it turns out that Phoenix TV, which has aggressively sought to expand in the United States, has closer ties to the Chinese government than the reporter let on.
Within minutes of the exchange in the briefing room, consultant Elliot Schwartz flagged that in 2018, a former Phoenix TV news director testified as part of an FCC filing that the outlet is essentially controlled by China's Communist Propaganda Department, and follows a directive to not report positively on the United States.
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