'That is not real journalism': CNN's Toobin rails against 'Fox & Friends' for wasting its access to Trump

CNN political analyst Jeffrey Toobin on Friday slammed “Fox & Friends” for shirking its’ responsibility as a “news” show, despite being on of the only outlets with unfettered access to Donald Trump.

Toobin was lamenting the president’s decision not to hold an end of the year press conference—a break from his predecessors Barack Obama and George H.W. Bush.

“Who is the president here?” Toobin asked. “… We have a president now who never answers any questions except from Fox News. I mean, this is, again, another unprecedented fact about the Trump presidency. You know, he used to give occasional interviews to Maggie Haberman at the New York Times," but he's invisible now. Except under the extremely favorable conditions of Fox News. And, you know, sure his lawyers might be worried about what he might say, but he's the president. He’s supposed to have some sort of relationship with the public. And that involves answering questions from someone other than the people at 'Fox & Friends.'”

“I just think this is yet another departure from the norms of how presidencies are supposed to work,” Toobin said.

CNN’s Rebecca Berg agreed Trump is “avoiding the scrutiny that you get with real questions from real reporters,” but stopped short of laying blame on Fox News.

“Not to, you know, insult those reporters at Fox News—there are certainly those who do ask tough questions—but for the most part the president sits for interviews with people who are extremely friendly, extremely favorable to him and don't ask the tough, hard-hitting questions you'd see in a news conference,” Berg said.

“Can I dissent?” Toobin asked. “I would like to insult the reporters from 'Fox & Friends,' I think that is not real journalism.”

“'Fox & Friends' are not reporters, Jeffrey,” Berg replied. “They’re the entertainment side.”

“Well, but they're the ones who get access to the president,” Toobin explained. “And, you know, this is a serious thing. It would be one thing if he was doing individual interviews with reporters from other outlets. There is no access to this president outside those journalist who's are favorable to him. It is not normal.”

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