CNN, MS NOW and Politico announced Monday they will launch legal action against President Donald Trump and unnamed senior administration officials after they were denied access to the White House as punishment for reporting “fake news.”
The lawsuit is alleging the ban constitutes viewpoint discrimination that violates the First Amendment and is the first formal action taken in response to the president’s action.
As Breitbart News reported, reporters from the three news organizations were blocked from access to the presidential mansion on Saturday, a day after Trump made clear his displeasure with their reporting.
Trump did not say what directly prompted the move but added “media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States.”
The president made clear he simply wants fair, untainted coverage.
Trump announced his decision in a Truth Social post:
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!
Trump added he will bar more outlets he deems “Fake News” from the White House campus as well.
Trump has previously criticized MS NOW’s White House correspondent Jake Traylor as being “one of the worst in the business,” and has told Politico‘s Dasha Burns that the outlet has “been so wrong about everything” and that “Politico is fake news.”
AP confirms White House reporters from the two cable networks — Betsy Klein of CNN and Akayla Gardner of MS NOW — went live to report they’d been turned away, their press badges deactivated, when arriving for their jobs at the White House.
Soon after, Politico said its White House reporter Cheyenne Haslett was also denied entry and had her badge confiscated.
The AP report continues to note that three news outlets had hinted at legal action as a response.
“Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists’ credentials because it objected to our reporting,” the outlets said in a joint statement posted on X.
“Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference.”
RELATED: Trump Credits Breitbart for Fair Coverage While Blasting Fake News Media Outlets
The WHCA’s president, Jacqui Heinrich, called on the Trump administration to immediately reverse the decision. “The implications extend beyond these organizations: a standard used to exclude one news outlet because of its coverage could be applied to any outlet in the future,” Heinrich said.
“The American people, through a free and independent press, must be able to scrutinize those elected to power, regardless of whether government officials view it favorably.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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