CNSNews.com - Helen Thomas Retirement Prompts WH Correspondents Board to Evaluate Seating Rules for Opinion Journalists

CNSNews.com - Helen Thomas Retirement Prompts WH Correspondents Board to Evaluate Seating Rules for Opinion Journalists

In this May 27, 2010 file photo, Helen Thomas listens to President Barack Obama during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Washington (CNSNews.com) – The fallout from Helen Thomas’ controversial comments about Israel and Jews, which led to her immediate retirement on Monday, has prompted journalists covering the White House to re-evaluate the role of an opinion columnist in the White House press corps.

Thomas, 89, the so-called dean of the White House press corps, covered the White House as a news reporter for United Press International (UPI), beginning with the Kennedy administration in the early 1960s. In 2000, she left UPI to become an opinion columnist for Hearst Newspapers. She has a front row seat at the White House press gallery with her name on it.

On Friday, June 4, a video surfaced of Thomas saying (on May 27) that Israel should “get the hell out of Palestine” and that the Jews should “go home” to “Poland, Germany,” and to “America and everywhere else.” After initially apologizing for the comment, Thomas announced her immediate retirement on Monday.