Top Republicans Defend Trump Decision To Bar Major Outlets From White House Grounds

Top Republicans are fully endorsing President Trump’s decision to ban CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House grounds, saying that reporters do not have the inherent right to access the presidential residence. Mr. Trump has threatened to ban other outlets from the White House if they do not report more favorably. Mr. Trump made the decision to ban the three major news outlets last week after he said he had become “tired” of reading and seeing “fake news.” CNN, MS NOW, and Politico reporters all had their press credentials revoked by the Secret Service after they tried to pass through the north lawn security checkpoint where reporters typically enter the grounds. “I don’t think that a court should allow fake news to be written day after day after day. I think that somebody has the right to keep them away if they’re gonna write false stories all the time,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on the day he made the announcement. He implied that the New York Times and the Washington Post may be next on his list, calling them “crummy papers.”Some of the most prominent Republicans in Congress came to the president’s defense on Sunday, arguing that the First Amendment should be respected, though Mr. Trump has the right to restrict access. “We all respect and value the freedom of the press,” Senator John Barrasso, the number two Senate Republican, said during an appearance on “Meet the Press” Sunday. “The president … in his first term was banned from Twitter, he was banned from Facebook, and I didn’t see people come to his defense, so it goes both ways,” Mr. Barrasso said. “The press has an obligation to report fairly.”The House majority leader, Congressman Steve Scalise, went on ABC New’s “This Week” to liken Mr. Trump’s ban for the three news agencies to the Biden administration’s decision to require annual renewals of White House press passes. Mr. Scalise falsely asserted that the Biden administration revoked more than 400 reporters’ credentials, though in reality, 400 reporters simply allowed their passes to expire. Mr. Scalise defended Mr. Trump’s decision, arguing that the fact the president takes so many questions from the press every day is proof that he is a believer in the First Amendment. Mr. Scalise said he would not try to read into Mr. Trump’s decision to ban those three news outlets, however.“I don’t know why he did it. I don’t know what the background is,” Mr. Scalise said. “I’ve never seen him turn a question down from anybody.”The president’s ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, similarly backed Mr. Trump’s new ban during an appearance on CNN. “The president is absolutely within his rights to limit journalists to government facilities, particularly when in his opinion they’re not behaving as good faith journalists,” Mr. Waltz said. “You don’t have an inherent right to any government facility that you want.”The White House Correspondents’ Association, which historically has managed which reporters can gain access to the White House, has condemned Mr. Trump’s decision and is pushing the White House to reinstate those three outlets’ access. As of Sunday, no lawsuits have been filed to try to force the administration to let the reporters back in. Last year, the Associated Press was banned from participating in the White House pool, though not banned from the White House grounds entirely. The AP filed a lawsuit shortly after that decision was made.In a statement Friday, Fox News’s Jacqui Heinrich, the president of the WHCA, called on the Trump administration to allow her colleagues back inside the building. “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,” Ms. 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.”

Top Republicans Defend Trump Decision To Bar Major Outlets From White House Grounds

Top Republicans Defend Trump Decision To Bar Major Outlets From White House Grounds

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