Trump's Media Ban Backfires
What A Day
Host Erin Ryan and reporter Will Sommer discuss the recent decision by Donald Trump to ban CNN, Politico, and MSNOW from the White House pre
Key takeaways
- Donald Trump banned MSNOW, CNN, and Politico from the White House press pool, leading to potential lawsuits.
- The ban is viewed by Will Sommer as a clear First Amendment violation and a way to punish unfavorable reporting.
Main topics
- White House media ban
- First Amendment rights
Notable quotes
Democracy requires tattletales.
Conclusion
The episode highlights a concerning trend of eroding journalistic norm
Transcript preview
Speaker 3 (0:00) The press is sort of the representative of Americans in many ways and kind of looking at things. And, you know, we saw this with the Pentagon, too, when they kicked out, you know, even the conservative media outlets that wouldn't sign a sort of loyalty oath, brought in like Laura Loomer and Jack Posobiec and all these crackpots. Speaker 4 (0:22) It's Monday, September 21st. I'm Erin Ryan, in for Jane Koston, and this is What A Day. President Trump banned MSNOW, CNN, and Politico from the White House on Friday, even confiscating some of the reporters' credentials. Former President Barack Obama, who must be exhausted at this point, had this to say about the ban during an appearance at Colgate University. Speaker 2 (0:45) I'm trying to think what would have happened if I had said, you know what, Fox News? Get out of here. It's unimaginable. So, but the point I'm making here is, is that if you have a certain cohort, let's call it 30 to 35 % of the country right now, which thinks that's okay. Well, what that means is we have not developed the kind of... Speaker 2 (1:14) understanding of what democracy requires. I Speaker 4 (1:18) mean, democracy requires tattletales. It's true. It's true. All right. President Donald Trump said Sunday that the comically large arch that he wants to build between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery would actually be a top grade military complex, able to host drones and snipers while storing ammunition. I think G.I. Joe Fortress, except. blocking the view of Arlington National Cemetery. It's one more example of how Trump is insisting that his initiatives to leave his mark all over the nation's capital, like a dog peeing on a line of fire hydrants, is also helping keep America safe. Trump has been calling the new White House ballroom a military complex and arguing that it's necessary for national security purposes. It's worth noting that there's an actual military base about a mile away from the location of the proposed Trump arch, so I'm not sure that excuse will fly. Ahead of elections, presidents usually try to assuage voters' fears and minimize damage to their own party. Trump has taken the opposite approach, doubling down on his unpopular policies. So crazy, it just might work. Except new polling from Real Clear Polling has shown just how destructive his behavior has been to Republicans. Democrats have a real shot at winning Senate races in Texas, Ohio, Michigan, New Hampshire, Alaska, Georgia, North Carolina. Some senators even think that conservative strongholds like Kansas and Nebraska could be up for grabs. Donald Trump once again urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to stop attacking Russian oil refineries, telling him it's all about, quote, diesel, diesel, diesel. The Financial Times reports. And Trump wrote on social media today, quote, this ridiculous and never-ending war with Ukraine must be ended. Fun fact. Trump said he would end the war with Ukraine on his first day in office. He said this 53 times. But instead of doing that, what he did was start a new war that he. also promised to end and has not ended. Promises made, promises kept, am I right? But I want to talk about Trump's latest attacks on the media. Joining me today is Will Sommer, the senior reporter for The Bulwark and the author of the False Flag newsletter. Will, welcome to What A Day. Speaker 3 (3:38) Hey, thanks for having me. Speaker 4 (3:40) Okay, so the big story in media today, Donald Trump has banned three outlets, mainstream outlets, CNN, Politico, and MSNOW from the White House, citing the fact that he just He just doesn't like the reporting. He doesn't even make overtures that it's about the individual reporters. He just doesn't like the outlet's reporting. Can he do that? Speaker 3 (4:01) Well, you know, I think a court's going to get to decide. The three outlets now have plans to sue. They filed the lawsuit today on Monday. You know, I think it's weird. I mean, it's a lot of weird stuff about it. But partially it's weird because Trump is being so open about being like, This is punishment for what they're saying. Yeah. You know, he said when he was asked on Friday about it, he said, well, you know, this is sort of a crackdown on the free press, essentially. He used the free press specifically. And so, you know, he's saying, well, you know, maybe if they learn their lesson and start saying something different, they can come back. I mean, that's pretty clearly a First Amendment violation. Speaker 4 (4:37) Yeah. I mean. So why did he put it that way? Like, is there a way that he could have put it where he would have had some plausible deniability? Like, you know, when he's talking about, like, his monument construction, he's like, oh, national security. Like, that's his kind of go-to, when you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail excuse. But, like, why wouldn't he use a more plausible excuse? Speaker 3 (4:58) I mean, it seems like he's really just fired up. He's mad, you know, and he wants them to know that he's mad at them. You know, the Wall Street Journal reported that Natalie Harp had given, you know, obviously his sort of, you know, devoted staffer had shown him sort of a super cut of MS Now criticizing him and a Politico graphic. It's a little CNN reported it was a Politico graphic that somehow made him mad. And then he said, OK, you know, get those three out of here. So I think, you know, theoretically, he probably would have had. better grounds if he said like, you know, they're just logistically, there's not enough room or the CNN crew takes up too much space or some kind of fig leaf argument. But he didn't go with that. Speaker 4 (5:37) Yeah. And let's talk a little bit about Natalie Harp. She's just like an emotional support staffer, I guess we can say. Why isn't she laying low now, given all the bad press around her of late and all and as much as she's acted like she doesn't like the attention? Like, why not lay low? Speaker 3 (5:54) Well, you know, it's funny. I mean, as you said, the kind of the emotional support staffer, you know, her brother is that they have a very weird relationship. We saw the letter she wrote him that was very devoted and, you know, kind of adoring in a weird way. But at the same time, like she seems to be riling him up based on this reporting that CNN also confirmed. I mean, this idea that, you know, she's in this kind of weird