Barack Obama’s campaign is kicking reporters from The New York Post and two other newspapers off his plane in the final days of the campaign.
All three papers had endorsed John McCain.
The Obama campaign said the decision was made to make room for other news organizations and had absolutely nothing to do with the three papers’ roles in the race.
Post Editor-in-Chief Col Allan said, “We are happy to be on the outside looking in. It’s what makes The New York Post special. We are not in the news business to be liked.”
The Obama campaign said reporters from The Post, the Dallas Morning News and the Washington Times had been ousted as of Sunday.
The Washington Times editorial page endorsed McCain on Tuesday and was notified Thursday night that there was no longer room for it on the Obama plane.
“This feels like the journalistic equivalent of redistributing the wealth,” Washington Times executive editor John Solomon said.
“I hope the candidate that promises to unite America isn’t using a litmus test to determine who gets to cover his campaign,” he added.
Obama’s chief communications officer Anita Dunn said demand for seats on the plane during the final campaign weekend had far exceeded supply and forced the Democratic nominees aides to make hard and unpleasant for all concerned decisions.
With reporting by Andy Soltis.