The White House has removed CNN from its assignment as the primary television pool representative covering Donald Trump for a second time in a week.
The White House Press Ban Escalates
The White House has removed CNN from its assignment as the primary television pool representative covering Donald Trump for a second time in a week.
According to a press rotation document released by the White House on Sunday, September 27, CNN was listed as the primary TV pool covering Thursday's presidential activities. However, the network was abruptly removed from pool duty for the following day, leaving Real America's Voice as the only pooler as the president travels to Texas and Oklahoma.
The White House published a pool assignment list that listed CNN as in-town pooler for Thursday's activities, with the conservative network Real America's Voice serving as secondary pooler. However, the White House abruptly removed CNN from pool duty for the following day, leaving Real America's Voice as the only pooler.
The country's largest broadcast and cable television news networks have not aired Real America's Voice footage, though the network has widely broadcast its availability.
A White House official sent a statement touting Trump's accessibility and referring to television networks as 'performative and dishonest.'
Earlier this week, lawyers for CNN, MS Now and Politico – the three outlets targeted by Trump's ban – formally asked a judge to extend his ruling overturning the White House ban for a period of 14 days.
The Press Pool: A Small, Rotating Group of Journalists
The press pool is a small, rotating group of journalists covering the president in areas where there is limited space, sharing the information they gather with other outlets.
The latest ban comes less than a week after CNN was banned from joining the president on Air Force One during his trip to Knoxville, Tennessee, for a college football game.
CNN spokesperson Emily Kuhn confirmed the cable network was removed from planned pool coverage, but did not provide further comment.
She instead pointed out to an earlier statement from attorney Theodore Boutrous, representing CNN, MS NOW and Politico in their fight with the White House over press access, calling the ban 'a blatant violation of the First Amendment and due process.'
Other networks refused to provide coverage in solidarity with the banned outlets.
The Ongoing Press Ban
President Trump announced the press ban two weeks ago – but a judge said it was 'unconstitutional'. Last Friday, CNN was allowed to cover the president with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the National Archives. However, in a new setback Saturday, the White House banned the network from Air Force One, preventing it from covering Trump's trip to a college football game in Tennessee.
The rest of the pool declined to provide a replacement, in solidarity with CNN.
Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the decision, saying in an interview on Sunday, 'The president has every right to decide who gets to fly on his plane.'
He added that Trump was 'sick and tired of certain media outlets just refusing to report accurate news.'
He added that news coverage he described as 'misinformation' amounted to a national security issue.
In his initial statement announcing the ban, Trump wrote on Truth Social, '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!'
Sources
- The Guardian: White House removes CNN from press pool for second time in a week
- Google: White House removes CNN from press pool for second time in a week - The Guardian
- Themirror: White House removes CNN from press pool during Donald Trump's Texas and Oklahoma trip
