White House Press Ban Ignites Media Lawsuit & Pool Boycott
White House Press Ban Ignites Media Lawsuit & Pool Boycott
President Trump's ban on CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House has sparked a major lawsuit from the outlets and a solidarity boycott by the White House TV pool. Get the full story!
President Donald Trump's decision to ban prominent news outlets CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House has ignited a firestorm, leading to a lawsuit from the media organizations and a powerful show of solidarity from the White House TV press pool. The controversy began when Trump announced the ban, citing what he called "cumulative stories" and "fake news" from the outlets.
This move prompted CNN, MS NOW, and Politico to file a lawsuit against Trump, his assistant for communications Steven Cheung, White House Chief of Staff Susan Wiles, and Secret Service Director Sean Curran. The lawsuit details how three journalists, Akayla Gardner of MS NOW, Betsy Klein of CNN, and Politico's Cheyenne Haslett, were denied entry to the White House and had their hard passes confiscated.
Furthermore, CNN was controversially removed from its scheduled rotation as the pool television network for the White House travel pool, specifically for Trump's Monday trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
The plaintiffs argue that these actions constitute "irreparable harm" to their ability to report.
In an unprecedented display of journalistic unity, members of the White House television press pool decided to boycott coverage of Trump's trip to New York. This decision was made in direct response to the ban targeting CNN, effectively leaving Trump's first appearance without the pool at the new White House helipad uncovered by the usual media contingent.
