CNN and MS NOW said its journalists were denied access to the White House grounds early Saturday, a day after President Donald Trump said he would ban three media outlets from the White House.
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“CNN’s mission to report on the U.S. government will continue regardless of any attempts to restrict physical access to the White House and other government buildings, or any other attempts to impede our journalism,” a CNN spokesperson said in a statement after its reporter, Betsy Klein, said she was denied access Saturday.
Klein said a Secret Service agent told her that her press pass had been deactivated. “We have a right under the U.S. Constitution to do our reporting without hindrance or interference from the government and this ban is an illegal assault on this fundamental right,” CNN said.
MS NOW said in a statement that it “intends to take any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights and the essential role of independent journalism in our democracy.”
“We stand firmly behind our anchors, our reporters, and our newsroom. We will continue to report on the President, the administration, and the issues that impact the American people.”
Breaking with long-running protocol for relations between the executive office and the press, Trump said Friday he would ban MS NOW, CNN and Politico from the White House, saying he disliked how they covered him. He said he would probably ban other media organizations as well.
Free speech advocacy groups condemned the ban, calling it a clear violation of the First Amendment.
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Asked about the MS NOW journalist being denied access, the White House referred The Washington Post to Trump’s earlier comments.
“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,” Trump wrote Friday in a post on Truth Social. “Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.”
Akayla Gardner, a White House reporter for MS NOW, described on air that she tried to scan her badge to enter the White House grounds but was told it was “disabled.” An MS NOW producer who was with her was able to enter, but a photographer “had their badge taken this morning,” she added.
“This is the first action we know of, of them actually denying us entry into the White House,” Gardner said.
Bruce D. Brown, president of Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, predicted in a statement Friday that the ban would be quickly struck down by the courts, if challenged.
“A ban like this would be flatly unconstitutional,” Brown said. “The First Amendment is clear that once the White House invites in some journalists, it can’t ban others because it doesn’t like their reporting.”
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This is a developing story and will be updated.
