Trump Bans Crooked Media

Pod Save America

The episode covers the Trump administration's decision to ban CNN, MSNBC, and Politico from White House access and the resulting solidarity among

Key takeaways

• Trump officially revoked credentials for CNN, MSNBC, and Politco, leading to a coordinated pool boycott by ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox.
• The Paramount-Warner Bros. merger settlement includes provisions for independent editorial boards for CNN and CBS News.

Main topics

• White House Press Ban
• Paramount-Warner Merger Settlement

Notable quotes

If you're on defense, you're losing.

Conclusion

The episode illustrates a period of intense institutional friction bet

Transcript preview

Speaker 5 (0:00) Today's presenting sponsor is SimpliSafe Home Security. As any political consultant will tell you, if you're on defense, you're losing. The same is true with your home security. Traditional home security systems react only after someone is already inside. SimpliSafe goes on offense. It's designed to help stop intruders before they get in your house. It has smart AI-powered outdoor cameras that detect suspicious activity at the perimeter and alert live US-based agents to step in. SimpliSafe's agents assess the threat, intervene through the outdoor camera to scare off trespassers, and call 911 dispatch. Our CEO Lucinda just got a SimpliSafe system. She said the installation was quick, the system was up and running in no time, and that the app is easy to use, and it allows you to arm and disarm the system. Check the cameras right from your phone. She's a huge fan, and you will be too. Right now, you can get 50 % off a new SimpliSafe system. Go to simplisafe.com slash crooked. That's simplisafe.com slash crooked for 50 % off. And when you order, please write in Podsafe America in the How Did You Hear About Us survey to let them know we sent you. Don't forget, there's no safe like Simply Safe. Speaker 1 (1:24) Welcome to Podsafe America. I'm Jon Favreau. I'm Tommy Vitor. Lovett is off today because he generously volunteered to punch up jokes for a very important midterm speech. Let's listen. Speaker 8 (1:34) And because we need somebody who will fight back against the far left, we need Michael Watley in the United States Senate. Speaker 8 (1:43) Now you may not have even heard that but I actually I usually don't misspeak But I just called them the fart left not the fart left that I promise that was an accident. Speaker 1 (1:53) What do you think? Love its best line since Pokemon go to the pool. Speaker 2 (1:58) Yeah No, the sign of a good joke is when you say to the crowd you might not have noticed that I just told a joke Yeah, Speaker 1 (2:03) remember like 30 seconds ago when I said something none of you laughed none of you noticed it I said the word fart by accident my Speaker 2 (2:12) three and two year old would have loved that joke. He is so, he's like, what is the opposite of charisma? It's like negative. He's like a black hole for Riz. Get him on the campaign trail Speaker 1 (2:25) more. Demolishes it. Guys, I said fart. I don't usually misspeak, but I didn't, I didn't mean it, but I said fart by accident. Wow. All right. So on today's show, we're going to talk about Trump banning journalists from the White House, the ever-expanding war he started in the Middle East, why his focus on AI is limited to renaming it, how the midterm polls are finally getting to him, and why he wants to put snipers, drones, and ammo right near D.C.'s airport. Then you'll hear Dan's interview with Kate Conley, the Democrat running against one of the most vulnerable House Republicans in the country, Mike Waller. But first... Cricket Con's almost here, and today we're announcing the first batch of guests who will be joining us in D.C. We hope you will, too. I think you'll see some of your favorites on the list if you go over to cricketcon.com, where you can check out the lineup so far and get your tickets before our early bird sale ends on October 6th. So get those tickets now. They're going fast. And stay tuned for more lineup announcements. We have a lot more great names to share with you soon. All right, let's get to the news. Trump's latest strategy to deal with the media coverage of his extremely unpopular war tariffs presidency is to simply forbid journalists from entering the White House. On Friday, Trump announced that he is, quote, banning CNN, MSNOW and Politico for, quote, constantly reporting fake news. By Saturday, reporters from all three outlets had their credentials confiscated and were physically turned away from the White House complex. On Monday, the three organizations sued the administration, arguing that the government cannot revoke access to journalists just because the president doesn't like their coverage. ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox also announced that they would not supply a replacement television crew after the White House kicked CNN out of its scheduled. pool rotation, which means the major television networks will not have pool coverage of the president. And they're saying they will keep that up until this gets resolved. J.D. Vance, when he's not telling jokes, offered an insultingly dishonest defense of Trump's move Monday morning, only to be rebutted by Trump himself at a press conference with Zoran Mamdani later that afternoon. Do Speaker 4 (4:37) you think it's appropriate for the president to be banning media outlets just because he doesn't like what they report? Speaker 8 (4:41) Well, I take some issue with the premise. So he's not banning media outlets. What he's doing is saying, we're not going to give you special access to the White House if you engage in what is effectively propaganda. Sir, you talked a lot about free speech over the years. How is it not an attack on free speech? Politico is as anti-Trump as Breitbart was anti-Obama or anti-Biden. Now, why on God's green earth would Donald Trump be expected to give Politico special access? when nobody in the media expected the Biden administration or the Obama administration to give Breitbart special access. It's about basic fairness. If they're fake news, I really think I have an obligation not to allow them into another very special house. This is a special house, Gracie mentioned. Well, the White House is the most special of all houses, I have to say. I told the president that we're going to have all of the members of the press here on the lawn. And that is something that I believe in is. is everyone, no matter the opinion or the critique that we engage. And I don't know if it's the president. It's interesting because they said they were going to boycott me, but they never boycott me. So Speaker 7 (5:45) I wasn't very worried about that. Look at all that press. What is Jamie talking about? It's not special access. It's just like a credential to get onto the White House grounds that he's Speaker 6 (5:52) talking about. And also maybe no one in the media expected the Biden White House to give Breitbart a press pass, but that's what they did. Speaker 2 (6:00) Breitbart did have access to the White House, just like... All the other journalists. He just could not be more wrong. Yeah, he's Speaker 1 (6:05) just Speaker 2 (6:05) a liar. The people you give special access to are the propagandists who prop up your agenda. They Speaker 7 (6:09) get special interviews and scoops and things. Speaker 6 (6:12) Also, J.D. Vance being like, He's not – I mean I take issue with the premise. He's not banning them. And then Trump's truth says, I am banning the following news outlets. He's like, I banned those motherfuckers. And then again with Mamdani was like, oh, yeah, I'm not letting them in the White House because they're banned. They're banned. I ban these Speaker 7 (6:27) losers. I am struggling with this one because it's obviously a clear violation of the First Amendment. It's an assault on press freedom. But also Speaker 2 (6:34) the image of Natalie Harp. showing him a super cut of like MS Now anchors dunking on Trump is so funny. Like Lawrence O'Donnell just like hitting him with some norms. I Speaker 6 (6:45) know. I want – Mika Speaker 2 (6:46) from the top rope. I Speaker 6 (6:47) feel – I'm happy that the Wall Street Journal got that reporting that it was Natalie showing him an MS Now Speaker 2 (6:53) anchor. Speaker 6 (6:53) I need the video. No, no. I Speaker 1 (6:55) want to know which segment, which anchor, who gets the special prize there. Please leak us the video. Because Natalie Speaker 6 (7:03) was like, Speaker 1 (7:03) hey. Hey, I got something to show you. Watch this. She's useful. She's useful. Oh, I can't believe Ossoff brought her up. How dare he do that when she just caused a fucking First Amendment violation? Well, that's not on her. She showed him the video. Speaker 7 (7:17) The president who cut it off. I Speaker 1 (7:20) mean, Speaker 7 (7:20) she set it off. It's the saddest thing ever, though. Like, I think the White House staff knows that this is not a winning issue for them. I mean, the press office apparently was caught off guard. Chief of Staff Susie Wiles was out of town getting chemo treatment, I think. And this is. seemingly how this all went down. Announcing she's cancer free now. Yeah. And Trump's like, now Trump's like, okay, now I run the White House and they're kicking out the press. Long term, it's bad and it's a big deal. I do think short term, there's an opportunity for Democrats to message this. The fact is the press will recover this a lot because it's about them and they tend to cover things about themselves. And I think we just have to frame this as like, this is a weak, feeble president lashing out because he doesn't want you to know about high gas prices or the Iran war going terribly or why his family's getting rich. Speaker 6 (8:02) Yeah, or just, you're right. So the press is going to talk about this all the time. And people who are already pissed that Trump is not focusing on anything they care about are going to be thinking to themselves, like, why the fuck is he spending all this time banning the press and not focusing on anything else? Yeah. So there's that, too. It's like it goes along with the ballroom and everything else that he's talking about. Speaker 2 (8:26) In the short, short term, maybe this helps him because no one was able to see the press avail of the new heliport he rolled out today. Oh, well, Speaker 6 (8:33) let's Speaker 2 (8:34) – Speaker 6 (8:34) Which is incredible. Yeah. So this is what happens. The White House tried to livestream. By the way, the White House just tweeted they're announcing Trump TV tonight. It's starting at 7 p.m. live, which I think is like – It's called Fox News. Isn't Speaker 1 (8:48) it Speaker 6 (8:48) just the WhiteHouse.gov? WhiteHouse.gov always has live streaming of White House events. It has since the Obama administration. So I don't quite understand what that's all about. But anyway, the White House tried to live stream Trump's ribbon-cutting event for his stupid helipad. But here's what happens when there's no press pool. This is Newsmax coverage of it. Speaker 2 (9:15) I should say for our audio-only listeners. Speaker 8 (9:17) So there is no microphone because the pool cameras aren't there. So maybe, Tim, this is one example of it backfiring just a little bit. Sounds Speaker 6 (9:27) like a swarm of bees. Just a little bit. Backfiring just a little bit. One interesting thing there in the Mamdani press conference is apparently Mamdani's office made sure that when they were going to reporters for questions, both CNN and MSNOW reporters. Got to ask some questions. Nice. Smart move. Which is great. That's clever. What do you make of how the rest of the White House press corps has been handling this, the unity among Fox, ABC, Speaker 2 (9:53) everyone? Way Speaker 6 (9:54) better Speaker 7 (9:55) than in previous attempts to go after them by the Trump administration. I mean, so right out of the gate, the TV network said they're not going to be covering events that are designated as pool coverage until CNN is allowed back in. That is a sense of collective action and solidarity that there just hasn't been in previous instances. It's also interesting timing because this is UN General Assembly week. Chinese President Xi Jinping is coming to the White House. So there's some big news. It does make me wonder a little bit how long the solidarity will last given that. I also wonder like to what extent, like I don't know what, we'll find out I guess what Trump TV is. I also don't know to what extent that like. the mega media world can cobble together what they need to create a new pool. Like, can you get like real America's voice or like my pillow TV or whatever to come together? Uh, do they have like literally like the technical infrastructure and equipment? Like, I don't know. Ultimately though, I think this is about an audience of one. This is about what Trump. thinks and how he feels. He is obsessed with mainstream TV coverage of himself. He watches CNN. He watches Scarborough and Morning Joe. If his events suddenly are not covered or if they just have a swarm of bees as audio, he's going to be upset about it. So in the long run, they could probably find a way around the media. In the short run, we'll see. I think they're hoping that the court case saves them from themselves here is my guess. Speaker 6 (11:22) Yeah, maybe. I think they – first of all, I think the press can't back down now, the White House press corps, right? Like they have to – they've started this boycott and they have to just take it as far as it goes. I'm sure they also think that the courts will rule for them, which we can talk about that in a second. I imagine tomorrow and – And in some outlet, we'll see Republicans be like, this is a genius fight he picked with the press because no one likes the media. But again, I think that's too cute by half in this instance because all people are going to hear is that Donald Trump got pissed that he was getting bad coverage and decided to kick reporters out of the White House. And I don't think anyone Speaker 2 (11:59) is going to buy that that's some kind of a brilliant move. You got to frame it like it's got to be about him being weak or some sort of attack on Speaker 7 (12:07) him because the Pew polling on this is not quite as cut and dry as you would like. So there's Pew research from 2026. Seventy three percent of adults see press freedom is extremely or very important to society. But. 53 % of Americans think it's okay for the government to limit press freedom if it prevents inaccurate reporting, especially if it has to do with national security stuff. So if Trump tries to make it some sort of national security issue, which occasionally he does, but he doesn't really have the discipline to do all the time, maybe this could be effective. I'm mostly where you are, though. I think he just looks like an idiot. I talked to a bunch of reporters today, White House and other. Most of them said that they were relieved that the TV networks took collective action with the pool. Most of them are worried about that solidarity and how long it'll last. And then one reporter said this person wished. There was a little more like some sort of organized protest or boycott of print or photojournalists, et cetera, and they could Speaker 6 (12:57) escalate a bit. Which I think they're starting to do. Did you see the Post and the Times said that they're not going to put out any photos that they've taken today? So I think – That's good. Like throughout the course of the day, I keep seeing more media outlets put out their PR statements on this saying that they're like standing in solidarity. So I think that will probably keep going. But again, I think this all comes down to where this goes legally. The three outlets are asking a federal court to – restore their access. The case has been assigned to Judge Timothy Kelly, who was appointed by Trump and also just Speaker 1 (13:27) happened to oversee the Jim Acosta case back in Trump's first term. They tried to revoke Jim Acosta's press credentials Speaker 6 (13:34) and then they were restored. Basically, Trump administration backed down and the judge ruled that like there was no due process. on that so any hints on on how this is going to go legally i Speaker 2 (13:47) mean i know you know which is that it seems like uh given Speaker 7 (13:49) that precedent this guy should rule the exact same way because the process here was natalie harp Speaker 2 (13:54) showing a hype video of lawrence o'donnell smackdowns or whatever But we'll find out. Yeah, just so people know, like the legal Speaker 6 (14:02) case on this, you know, Cheryl versus Knight is a 77 D.C. circuit case. Right. And so this is sort of like the foundational ruling on this, which is once the White House voluntarily opens press facilities to journalists, it cannot exclude them arbitrarily or based on content. Denying a credential, which would have been the case in just Jim Acosta's case. requires a legitimate justification plus notice, an opportunity to respond, and a written explanation. And the court explicitly said First Amendment interests are implicated in White House news gathering. So basically, none of that stuff happened, both on the process argument that no one got any kind of notice. There was no reason other than I don't like your shit. And then on the substance. The fact that Trump has admitted that they're being banned because he doesn't like their viewpoints and not because they did anything wrong, not because of a national security issue, nothing, means – like I don't – there's no way he's going to win this case. They're going to reinstate it. Speaker 7 (14:59) It's hard to imagine. It's hard to imagine. And it's nice to think that there are some Trump judges on the courts that came from an earlier time when they weren't just nagified. Speaker 1 (15:08) And Trump just continues to Speaker 6 (15:09) lean in on this and talk about it. Like he's already assuming he had another truth right before he recorded that this judge is going to rule against me because he ruled in favor of Jim Acosta, who now seems to have disappeared from the planet. Speaker 6 (15:23) So mean. So mean. And he's like, and he's a Trump judge. That's sad and disappointing. But like, I have to keep these people out of the Oval Office. We Speaker 1 (15:32) should be always treated with decorum, respect, and dignity. Because that's decorum and respect and dignity Speaker 6 (15:38) is what you think of when you think of Trump in the Oval Speaker 1 (15:39) Office. Speaker 6 (15:39) And Speaker 7 (15:39) it's like, this comes on the heels of them making a bunch of changes to the way the pool rotation works to put more conservatives in there to begin with. So it's already like, the pool events are already not what they used to be. Back in the day, they were just. normal wire reporters and normal print reporters in our phone were often asking the president tough questions. Now it's like, you know, Marjorie Taylor Greene's boyfriend was in there every other day asking questions. It's a bunch of like right wing conservatives asking very Trump friendly questions. And he can't even take that. He's that pathetic and weak. Speaker 1 (16:09) And I will say, like, good for Fox. Yeah, I'm glad they Speaker 6 (16:12) said that. We'll see how long it lasts, but like good for Fox Speaker 1 (16:14) for Speaker 6 (16:14) joining on this. Speaker 1 (16:23) Pod Save America is brought to you by PolicyGenius. 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Speaker 1 (18:46) One person we haven't heard from yet is CNN's soon-to-be new owner, David Ellison, who's surely been busy celebrating the news that his Paramount Skydance Speaker 6 (18:55) conglomerate reached a settlement Monday with California and 11 other states that had sued to block Speaker 1 (19:00) its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Brothers Discovery. So the agreement would create independent editorial boards for both CNN and CBS News. and require the company to release at least 30 movies a year with a $30 million penalty for each film if it falls short. Speaker 6 (19:17) The deal still hasn't formally closed, but the settlement removes one of the Speaker 1 (19:22) biggest remaining, maybe the last remaining obstacle. Thoughts on California's Rob Bonta and the other state AGs deciding to settle and do those independent editorial boards make you feel any better about the merger? Speaker 2 (19:36) I don't think... Bonta ultimately had a ton of leverage Speaker 7 (19:39) here. Ellison was threatening to move the studio out of California, I think, to Texas. And then it was clear through some media leaks that Gavin Newsom and Becerra, Javier Becerra, who's likely to be the next governor of California, wanted a settlement. So he seemed like