Does the Press Understand the First Amendment?

The corporate “news” media is caterwauling because President Trump has banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House. He first announced the ban on Friday, and it became effective Saturday morning when “journalists” from all three outlets were denied access to the executive mansion. Predictably, they all insist that Trump is violating their First Amendment rights. This is where the confusion comes in. The First Amendment reads as follows: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press …” This doesn’t mean they have reserved seats in the White House briefing room.

The travails of these three outlets hasn’t produced much more than a drowsy yawn from the nation’s voters.

Nonetheless, the outlets issued statements suggesting that they don’t quite grasp that reality. MS NOW brayed, “Earlier this morning MSNOW journalists were denied access to the White House grounds … MS NOW intends to take any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights and the essential role of independent journalism in our democracy.” CNN fumed, “Early today, CNN journalists were denied access to the White House grounds … We have a right under the U.S. Constitution to do our reporting without hindrance or interference and this ban is an illegal assault on this fundamental right.” Politico’s statement was less hysterical: “We will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights against any attempt to restrict them.”

Trump’s ban of CNN, MS NOW and Politico prompted calls for a full scale media boycott of the White House. Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.), for example, posted the following on X: “Every single media outlet that believes in the “free press” should boycott the White House press room until Trump lifts his absurd ban on media outlets he doesn’t like. This is an attack on all of the press — not just those outlets — and it must be met with unity and solidarity from the rest.” It was in fact the result of the dishonest and malicious attacks by all three outlets on President Trump. While Trump was being badgered about the ban by the press on Friday, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders — once his press secretary — pointed out the irony of their hostile questions:

I think it’s hard for you to argue against a free press when you’re literally standing in the Oval Office asking questions of the president of the United States. He’s been more accessible and easier to talk to than any president in history. Think about the previous administration, where you could barely get through a press conference. And yet you have the opportunity to stand here in the Oval Office and ask questions to the leader of the free world. I mean that’s pretty free. And you’re standing here and asking those questions. I think the President is right to support the First Amendment. But he’s also right to ask that you be honest and fair. That’s not an unreasonable thing to ask.

It is, however, unreasonable to ask former President Barack Obama to keep his mouth shut on this issue. On Saturday, he appeared on C-SPAN to offer his typically hypocritical take on Trump’s “press ban,” as the network disingenuously described it: “I’m trying to think what would have happened if I had said, you know what, Fox News, you’re out of here! It’s unimaginable!” Actually, it’s not necessary to imagine what would have happened—Zip. As Piers Morgan points out, “Obama did ban Fox, and waged almost constant war against press freedom.” Joe Concha elaborates, “Team Obama rejected more FOIA requests than anyone in history, spied on James Rosen, secretly seized AP phone records and booted several news outlets off of his plane.”

But former President Autopen holds the record for the most extensive White House press purge. As Fox News reported in August of 2023, “At least 442 reporters have lost their credentials since the White House press office changed its rules for journalists to be eligible for permanent passes, according to reports.” The new eligibility requirements were clearly meant to target independent journalists. In order to qualify for a White House pass, reporters had to prove “Full-time employment with an organization whose principal business is news dissemination.” This travesty produced no condemnation from the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA). Trump’s action, however, was vociferously denounced by WHCA President Jacqui Heinrich:

Today’s action revoking access for journalists from CNN, POLITICO, and MSNOW violates the First Amendment. The implications extend beyond these organizations: a standard used to exclude one news outlet because of its coverage could be applied to any outlet in the future. The American people … must be able to scrutinize those elected to power, regardless of whether government officials view it favorably. That’s why courts have repeatedly held that once the White House provides access to journalists, it cannot deny that access arbitrarily or based on the content of their reporting. The WHCA calls on the administration to immediately restore our colleagues’ access.

The WHCA is obviously applying a different standard to the Trump administration than it used to access the Biden and Obama regimes. This is precisely why, at the beginning of President Trump’s second term, his Press Secretary took control of the White House press pool and credentialing away from the WHCA. This was decried by the usual suspects. The Guardian’s response was particularly portentous: “The Trump administration announced it will take control of the White House press pool, stripping the independent White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) of its longstanding role in deciding which journalists have access to the president in intimate settings.” In reality, the WHCA wasn’t “independent.” It had for years favored liberal outlets.

All of which brings us back to the fate of CNN, MS NOW and Politico. As expected the outcry over their absence is becoming increasingly shrill. All the weeping and gnashing of teeth has, however, been coming from inside the Beltway. The travails of these three outlets hasn’t produced much more than a drowsy yawn from the nation’s voters. Gallup surveys consistently show that public trust in the media is as low as it has ever been. As for the claim that the Trump administration has violated the First Amendment, perhaps these “journalists” should take the time to read it. It doesn’t give CNN, MS NOW or Politico any claim to a seat in the White House briefing room.

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