TWH Clamps Down On Banned News Outlets

CNN's Betsy Klein

Secret Service agents denied CNN, MS NOW and Politico journalists entry to the White House on Saturday and confiscated their press passes, one day after President Donald Trump said he was banning the three outlets.

CNN’s Betsy Klein, Politico’s Cheyenne Haslett and MS NOW’s Akayla Gardner were among those turned away. Klein said an agent told her the pass had been deactivated. Gardner said an officer took her badge after it failed to scan and, when asked why, said the decision was “above him.” 

MSNOW Akayla Gardner,
Politico Cheyenne Haslett

MS NOW and CNN journalists continued reporting from across the street. Gardner called it the first time the outlets had been denied entry.

The three organizations said they would fight the restrictions and keep covering the president. 

“CNN’s mission to report on the U.S. government will continue regardless of any attempts to restrict physical access,” a CNN spokesperson said. Politico global editor in chief Jonathan Greenberger said the newsroom would “vigorously defend our First Amendment rights.” 

MS NOW said it “intends to take any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights.”

Trump announced the ban Friday, breaking with long-standing White House press protocol. He said he disliked the outlets’ coverage. “They’re fake news,” he said. On Truth Social he wrote that media outlets “shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES” about him, his administration or the country, adding, “Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.” 

Asked Saturday about the denials, the White House pointed to those comments.

Press freedom groups called the ban unconstitutional, arguing the First Amendment bars the government from punishing journalists for the content of their reporting. White House Correspondents’ Association President Jacqui Heinrich said the issue was “the right of the American people to receive a full and independent account” of the presidency. The association represents outlets across the ideological spectrum, from MS NOW to Fox News.

The access fight comes as people familiar with internal deliberations say Trump is focused on a difficult midterm map for Republicans. Polls show him unpopular and most Americans disapproving of his handling of issues including the economy and immigration

Bruce D. Brown, president of Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, predicted in a statement Friday that the ban on media organizations would be quickly struck down by the courts, if challenged.

“A ban like this would be flatly unconstitutional,” Brown said. “The First Amendment is clear that once the White House invites in some journalists, it can’t ban others because it doesn’t like their reporting.”