President Donald Trump has made good on his threat to shut CNN, MS NOW and Politico out of the White House, and he did it fast.
Just one day after Trump first threatened to ban the three outlets “effective immediately,” reporters from all three news organizations were turned away from the White House grounds on Saturday morning. When the threat was first made, even some of the president’s more vocal critics were unsure how serious he was. Saturday morning answered that question.
Politico, CNN and MS NOW each revealed that their reporters were denied access. Politico editor-in-chief Jonathan Greenberger confirmed that his outlet was turned away as well, following similar reports from CNN and MS NOW.
Greenberger said Politico reporter Cheyenne Haslett was blocked from doing her job:
“A few minutes ago, our colleague Cheyenne Haslett attempted to enter the White House to do her job as a POLITICO reporter. Secret Service denied her entry to the complex and confiscated the pass that allows her access to the White House. We stand by her and all reporters here covering the White House. As we said yesterday, we will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights.”
MS NOW and CNN reporters found themselves in the same position. Their press badges were deactivated on Saturday morning. White House staffers confiscated the badges but provided no further information.
The ban came after Trump declared on Friday that he would bar all three outlets, accusing them of fake reporting and making the ban effective immediately. That declaration raised larger legal questions, but the president moved quickly to follow through. The announcement came on Friday, and the enforcement came on Saturday.
Trump laid out his reasoning in his own words:
“I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW (who recently changed their name from MSNBC due to lack of viewership and credibility!), and Politico (The recipients of an illegal and ridiculous $8 Million Dollar subscription, an All Time Record, directly from the United States Government, under Crooked Joe Biden, in order to keep them ‘alive.’ Seems like corruption to me!), from the White House as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!”
In that statement, Trump pointed to what he called the outlets’ constant “reporting” of fake news as the reason for the ban. He also claimed MS NOW recently changed its name from MSNBC because of a lack of viewership and credibility. As for Politico, he said the outlet received an $8 million subscription directly from the United States government under Joe Biden, which he described as an all-time record and said seemed like corruption to him.
Greenberger, for his part, said Politico stands by Haslett and all the reporters covering the White House, and that the outlet will vigorously defend its First Amendment rights.
