Secretary of State Mike Pompeo continues to double-down on his bullying and pettiness towards NPR, after last week's contentious interview with Mary Louise Kelly. Now they've denied another NPR reporter a seat on Pompeo's plane.

Source: Washington Post

The State Department Correspondents’ Association says the State Department has denied a National Public Radio reporter a seat aboard Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s plane for an upcoming trip to Europe and Central Asia.

The decision came a few days after Pompeo lashed out at another NPR reporter.

The correspondents’ association said Monday the decision to remove NPR correspondent Michele Kelemen from Pompeo’s plane led it to conclude “the State Department is retaliating” against NPR. The group asked the State Department to reconsider and allow Kelemen to join Pompeo.

The State Department declined to comment on the correspondents’ association request.

In an interview Friday, Pompeo responded testily when NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly asked him about Ukraine and, specifically, whether he defended or should have defended Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador in Kyiv whose ouster figured in President Donald Trump’s impeachment.