April 06, 2017 12:13 PM UTC

Coffman Refuses Interview with Huffpo Journalist, But He Loves Talk Radio!

•  
• by: Jason Salzman

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Rep. Mike Coffman asks what outlet I'm from.

I tell him Huffington Post.

He refuses to talk to me and says I'm "not a legit journalist."

— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) April 6, 2017

Huffington Post reporter Matt Fuller tweets this morning that U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) refused to talk to him because, Coffman told him, he’s “not a legit journalist.”

This prompted former Coffman deputy Tyler Sandberg to tweet that “Huffpo is a left-wing blog, not a bastion of journalistic legitimacy.”

That might be true for some Huffpo writers, but not for Fuller, as you can see from his resume.

But even if it were true, Coffman doesn’t use “journalistic legitimacy” as his litmus test for talking to media figures, as demonstrated by the fact that he’s been on conservative talk radio shows at least seven times this year alone. And hundreds of times over the years.

I have nothing against KNUS 710-AM’s conservatives, like Craig Silverman, Krista Kafer, Steve Kelley, and Jimmy Sengenberger–all of whom Coffman’s talked with this year. Ditto for KHOW 630-AM’s Ross Kaminsky.

But none of them is a “legit journalist.”

I’m not saying Coffman shouldn’t chit chat with conservative talkers, who usually, but not always, scratch his back. He just shouldn’t offer fake excuses to avoid reporters like Fuller.