CNN, MS NOW and Politico are suing the Trump administration after the president barred their reporters from the White House over coverage he branded ‘Fake News.’
The three media outlets announced the First Amendment lawsuit in a joint statement on Monday, days after their journalists were turned away from the White House grounds.
‘This morning, we notified the government that we are filing a lawsuit today to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes,’ they said.
‘Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists’ credentials because it objected to our reporting,’ the statement continued.
‘Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference.’
Trump announced on Truth Social Friday that all three outlets were barred ‘effective immediately’ and warned that ‘other Fake News Media Outlets’ could be next.
‘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 Trump Administration, or the United States of America,’ he wrote.
The ban took effect over the weekend. CNN’s Betsy Klein was left reporting from the sidewalk outside on Saturday, holding up an empty credential holder.
CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins in the White House Press Briefing Room on September 3
Politico’s Cheyenne Haslett and MS NOW’s Akayla Gardner were also photographed working near the complex after being denied entry.
The White House then removed CNN from its scheduled role as the television pool representative for Monday.
Trump said in the Oval Office on Friday that no single story prompted the ban, blaming ‘cumulative stories over the last two years.’
‘You get sick of it,’ he said.
‘I don’t want them in my office. I don’t want them here. I would say the ban would go as far as you can, and if they could straighten themselves out, I’d love it.’
The president insisted he supports a free press but said ‘you need a fair and honest press.’
‘It’s sick. I mean, there’s something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stuff. Now, if they want to write them, that’s fine. But I don’t have to let them into my, into the people’s house,’ he said.
The outlets are on familiar legal ground. In 2018, a federal judge ordered the White House to restore CNN correspondent Jim Acosta’s press pass after it was pulled following a heated exchange with Trump.
President Donald Trump speaks at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Washington DC, Friday, July 24
CNN Senior White House Reporter Betsy Klein reports near the White House complex Saturday after having her credential was revoked by Donald Trump
The Associated Press was barred from the Oval Office and Air Force One last year after refusing to adopt the ‘Gulf of America’ name for the Gulf of Mexico.
A federal judge sided with the AP, but an appeals court later paused that ruling.
The White House has been contacted for comment.
