News Outlets Protest Trump’s Ban

A number of news organizations, including Fox News, have decided to halt pool reporting at the White House in reaction to the president’s recent ban on certain outlets.

On Friday, President Donald Trump accused CNN, MS NBC, and Politico of spreading fake news and subsequently barred them from accessing the White House.

In a statement, Fox News Washington bureau chief Bryan Boughton informed that the TV pool would stop covering events categorized under pool reporting of the President, starting immediately. This decision arose after the White House restricted CNN from performing its assigned pool responsibilities, without any alternative pool being established.

On Monday, ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, and Fox News released a collective statement regarding their action: “The public has a crucial interest in receiving accurate and independent information about its government. No administration should limit a news organization simply because it disagrees with its reporting.”

Interestingly, CNN supported Fox News back in 2009 when former President Barack Obama had restricted Fox’s media access. In 2018, Fox News reciprocated the gesture after Trump excluded a CNN reporter.

In his comments to reporters on Friday, the president explained his ban, stating, “I don’t want them in my office. I don’t want them here.” He added, “The ban is because they are fake news; they cannot write the truth.”

Furthermore, Trump indicated that he might extend the ban to other media outlets, such as the New York Times and the Washington Post. On Monday, he took to Truth Social, comparing fake news to a “cancer” that’s harming the nation. He described it as “corrupt, purposeful, pervasive, fully coordinated, and totally out of control,” adding that it is a threat to “our National Security and must be stopped, NOW!”