My Wednesday edition columns are quickly turning into “What was the funniest thing you saw this weekend?” While it certainly wasn’t intended to be this way, I’ve got to point out one of the more hilarious things I’ve seen in recent memory.

Let me preface this by saying that I have a clear disdain for hypocrisy. There are few traits that I despise more in a person than being a hypocrite. Unfortunately, I know a few too many of those people locally, but I guess we all do to some extent. But, I digress.

Today’s case of hypocrisy lies in this feud between the Associated Press and President Donald Trump. For those who don’t know, Trump has barred AP reporters from entering some of the White House events as well as the Oval Office and Air Force One.

What was the reason you might ask? Maybe a few biased articles? Maybe a long-standing personal issue with the outlet? 

Well, if you guessed any of those answers, you’d be going home broke. The true reasoning behind the shunning is because the AP refuses to change its style from “Gulf of Mexico” to the newly renamed “Gulf of America.” That’s it.

“We’re going to keep them out until such time as they agree that it’s the Gulf of America,” Trump said.

Now, let me put two things on record here before I go any further. 

No. 1) Thousands of outlets across the country use the AP stylebook for journalistic practices. The Covington News is one of those outlets. However, each outlet can vary its styles and practices based on its own discretion. There are many instances in which The News does this.

Will The News adopt “The Gulf of America” instead of the “The Gulf of Mexico” in future writings. Well to be honest, I’m not sure. Frankly, I don’t know of a case where we’d need to reference this in any of our reporting. Let’s table that discussion for another day.

No. 2) I don’t hate the name “Gulf of America.” Shocking, right?

I have no preference about the name, whatsoever. It is not anything I’ve thought critically about. So therefore, I’m not inclined to feel any real way about it.

Following the news that Trump’s boycott against the AP, the outlet filed a lawsuit against the White House Chief of Staff Susan Wiles, Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Leavitt, who is the youngest press secretary in White House history, said that she’d challenge the lawsuit, stating she would “see the AP in court.”

Now this is where it gets interesting, folks.

Days after the suit, Leavitt took to Instagram to celebrate her first month as press secretary. For her second photo in a four-photo slideshow, she used an aerial shot of the briefing room. 

The photo was taken, and watermarked, by guess who… the AP.

Now, I don’t know about you all, but if I was being sued by an outlet that I would “see in court,” then perhaps I wouldn’t use one of their watermarked photos as a celebration. Food for thought, I suppose.

While that particular photo was the funniest thing I saw this weekend, it goes to show a deeper meaning of hypocrisy about this whole ordeal. For an administration that believes in first amendment rights and opposes cancel culture and censorship, it seems like the banning of AP from on-site coverage of the White House goes against these ideologies.

But wait, it gets better. Did you know that over 40 media outlets sent a joint letter to the President with the intent of reversing his decision on the AP’s media access? 

While the letter has yet to be publicly released, it is known that right-wing outlets such as Fox News and Newsmax are two of the outlets involved in the letter. Newsmax released a statement on the matter:

“We can understand President Trump’s frustration because the media has often been unfair to him, but Newsmax supports the AP’s right, as a private organization, to use the language it wants to use in its reporting. We fear a future administration may not like something Newsmax writes and seek to ban us. This is why news organizations like Newsmax and Fox News are supporting the AP’s First Amendment rights though we may disagree with its editorial point of view from time to time.”

It’s almost like the idea of “agreeing to disagree” still exists. What a novel thought!

In all seriousness, good on Fox News and Newsmax for backing the AP in this fight. And big kudos to the AP for taking on the fight in the first place.

There are few things I care about more than the freedom of press. It is the true backbone of the profession I work in. Any stand against the freedom of press is a true threat to democracy, and it must be stopped. Even if it’s the commander and chief of our country.

Evan Newton is the Managing Editor of The Covington News. He can be reached at enewton@covnews.com.