White House Excludes CNN from Air Force One for Tennessee Game
The White House has decided to remove CNN from the list of media outlets accompanying President Donald Trump on Air Force One for a college football game in Tennessee this Saturday.
This action means CNN will no longer be part of the pool schedule, which the White House released on Friday. This schedule details the coverage for Trump’s trip to witness the University of Texas face off against the University of Tennessee in what the Tennessean describes as the “Tennessee Volunteers’ biggest game of the year” at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville.
CNN reported on Friday that, “The White House is barring CNN from flying on Air Force One on Saturday as part of the news outlet’s duties covering the president on behalf of major television networks.”
Interestingly, no other outlet has been named to take CNN’s place, which raises the question of how, if at all, the event will be covered on television.
Politico pointed out that such changes in media coverage are quite unusual. Typically, a rotation system among five major networks — CNN, CBS News, ABC News, NBC News, and Fox News — determines who covers the president.
On September 18, President Trump had already restricted access to Politico, CNN, and MS NOW, citing their persistent “reporting” of what he called “FAKE NEWS,” as noted in a Truth Social post.
This exclusion meant that CNN was also barred from covering the president’s recent ribbon-cutting event for a new White House helipad, or from traveling with him to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
In response, CNN, along with MS NOW and Politico, filed a lawsuit claiming this removal from the White House was a clear violation of the First Amendment, alleging it targeted them specifically due to their reporting. A federal judge later ordered the White House to restore access to these outlets.
On a Friday following the ruling, CNN resumed regular coverage as part of the pool while Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited the National Archives.
Trump has not shied away from voicing his disdain for CNN, making a pointed remark to journalist Kaitlan Collins when he arrived in New York for the United Nations event. He said, “I’m surprised that CNN is here covering me. You shouldn’t be here… you shouldn’t be covering me.”
As per Breitbart News, the president usually has a group of reporters that includes select networks with video crews, print journalists, radio reporters, and photographers accompanying him during official trips.
On Monday, Vice President JD Vance supported the president’s stance on restricting access to media outlets he deems to report fake news, stating they could report on the administration in other ways but wouldn’t receive special access.
Vance argued that it wouldn’t be fair to provide privileged access to any media outlet that offers coverage against the president, similar to how no one expected the previous administrations to offer special access to outlets like Breitbart during their watches.
Breitbart noted that one of the initial actions taken by the recently departed White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, was to introduce a New Media seat in briefings, often directing questions to outlets like Breitbart News.
