Pushing back at President Donald Trump's attacks on the network, CNN has said "no thanks" to a White House offer of Kellyanne Conway to speak for the president on this week's State of the Union show on Sunday.
(UPDATE: CNN considers permanent ban for Kellyanne Conway over ‘serious questions’ about credibility: report)
According to the Huffington Post, Vice President Mike Pence will appear on NBC’s Meet the Press, ABC’s This Week, CBS’s Face the Nation, and Fox News Sunday, but no White House official will be on CNN's State of the Union with host Jake Tapper.
The Huffington Post reports that a White House spokesperson said they “offered multiple guests for State of the Union and they declined.”
According to the report Pence was not offered as an option to CNN -- which has been the subject of intense criticism from the president and his defenders -- but senior adviser Conway was suggested only to have the network decline the offer.
Earlier in the week it was reported that the White House was boycotting CNN because the administration feels the network has not been fair to them, reportedly saying, "We’re sending surrogates to places where we think it makes sense to promote our agenda.”
Since that time, Conway has been embroiled in controversy over her comments on MSNBC, blaming refugees for a fictitious "Bowling Green massacre," which she claimed the media refused to cover.
Conway's often combative and defensive television interviews reached their peak when she attempted to explain to NBC's Chuck Todd that White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was using "alternative facts" to protest reports that President Donald Trump's inauguration was poorly attended.
Per CNN's Brian Stetler:
