'Can't handle hard questions': Trump campaign slammed after it 'bars' NBC reporter over confrontation with Elise Stefanik

ROCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE: Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign reportedly banned NBC news reporter Vaughn Hillyard after the viral confrontation with Rep. Elise Stefanik.

The news website Mediaite reported that the campaign told Hillyard he would not be permitted to participate as a press pool member for the former President's events in New Hampshire on Sunday, January 21.

The NBC reporter on Friday, January 19, questioned Stefanik, who is rumored to be Trump's Vice President pick, whether she believes writer E Jean Carroll's sexual assault allegations against Trump. The top Trump surrogate outrightly said, "No, of course not."

The brief altercation gained attention when the reporter confronted her, asserting that the jury had declared the former President guilty. In response, Stefanik accused the reporter of 'media bias'.

The ongoing defamation trial looks into Carroll's suit accusing Trump of defaming her in 2019 by denying her claims. However, the Republican frontrunner multiple times argued the case was a "totally fabricated story."

Donald Trump's campaign says they don't ban reporters

Responding to reports denying permission to Hillyard, Trump's campaign said to Mediaite, "We don't ban or bar reporters based on their reporting."

On Sunday, Puck News founder and senior correspondent Dylan Byers posted about the ban on X. According to the post, he was told that Hillyard was barred from the day's press pooler and could not travel with Trump in "retribution" for pressing Stefanik about the accusations against the ex-President during the interview.

Later, in a follow-up message, Byers quoted from a Hillyard pool report. "Your NBC News pooler has been informed that the pool will no longer travel with and take part in the former president's OTR stops today before his Rochester rally," he wrote on X.

"Your pooler was told that if he was the designated pooler by NBC News that the pool would be cut off for the day. After affirming to the campaign that your pooler would attend the events, NBC News was informed at about 2:20pmET that the pool would not be allowed to travel with Trump today," the post continued.

NBC News has not responded to the report yet.

The incident happened a day after Trump kicked a protestor out of his New Hampshire rally for calling him a "dictator."

Internet reacts to the reports

Netizens called out the potential dictatorial behavior of Trump and questioned if banning is the only solution if they cannot handle the questions.

One user opined, "Hey can’t handle the hard questions, because it reveals their lies."

Another mocking remark read, "Such a big baby..."

"Perfect ! So it’s ban what you can’t handle," a user added.  Another user wrote, "And this is where they start! Banning reporters."

One user remarked, "Well now we know his pick for VP." Another said, "Me thinks we found the VP wannabe."

"What happened to the Constitution and freedom of the press?" questioned a user.

Another response read, "Snowflakes. Can’t handle the big questions." One user stated, "Don’t question MAGA when they say or do the indefensible."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.