STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

TV Networks Finally Pull Plug on Trump After Crackpot CNN Ban

The move leaves Trump without a TV crew from any of the major networks as he heads to the UN General Assembly ahead of a much-anticipated visit by Chinese president Xi Jinping this week.

America’s major TV networks have fired back at Donald Trump’s ban on certain media at the White House by refusing to assign a reporting crew to cover him, in an extraordinary escalation in the battle between the press and the president.

Days after Trump took the astonishing step of banning CNN, Politico and MS NOW from the White House because he wanted more favorable coverage, NBC, ABC, CBS and even the Trump-friendly Fox News joined forces to suspend White House pool duties and boycott the 80-year-old.

The move leaves Trump without a TV crew from any of the major networks as he heads to the United Nations General Assembly on Monday ahead of a much-anticipated state visit by Chinese president Xi Jinping later this week.

“Effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President. This follows the White House’s position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties. There will be no replacement pool put in place,” said an email to TV pool subscribers released on Monday.

The boycott comes as the three banned outlets sue Trump, White House communications director Steven Cheung, Secret Service Director Sean Curran, and Chief of Staff Susan Wiles over the revocation of their access.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington on Monday, argues that the administration’s move violates the First and Fifth Amendments–and uses Trump’s own words as evidence that the ban was retaliation for coverage he disliked, not a legitimate security or logistical decision.

NOT SO FREE PRESS

Trump Announces Crazed White House ‘Ban’ on CNN and MS NOW

Farrah Tomazin

Trump announced the ban on September 18, accusing CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO of producing “FAKE NEWS.”

In the Oval Office, he said the decision was based on “cumulative stories over the last two years” and complained that the outlets wrote “purposely negative” coverage intended to “diminish” him and his administration.

He also said there was “something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories,” adding that if the outlets wanted to publish such stories, “that’s fine,” but he did not have to let them into “the people’s house.”

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He also admitted if the networks “could straighten themselves out,” he would “love it.”

The administration then deactivated the reporters’ hard passes on Saturday, preventing them from entering the White House grounds, and on Monday, it removed CNN from pool coverage responsibilities shared by major networks.

Before Trump’s ban, the network was scheduled to have TV pool duty and travel with the president to New York today for the latest UN General Assembly meeting, where he will meet with world leaders and deliver a speech on Tuesday.

The confrontation comes as Trump faces record-low approval ratings ahead of the midterm elections, thanks in large part to soaring costs due to his policy decisions such as tariffs and the war in Iran.

Trump responded to the lawsuit on Monday with a wild Truth Social post, declaring: “The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America.”

“It is corrupt, purposeful, pervasive, fully coordinated, and totally out of control. It is a threat to our National Security, and must be stopped, NOW! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he added.

But even some of his most ardent defenders have attacked the ban and warned it could backfire spectacularly.

Conservative legal scholar Jonathan Turley, a longstanding defender of the president, said the move was an “assault on long-honored principles of a free press” and a “terrible precedent and practice.”

WALK IT BACK!

MAGA Turns on Trump Over Wild Media Ban

Farrah Tomazin

Fox News anchor Brit Hume reposted Turley’s criticism with a blunt warning.

“100%. And if he thinks this will lead to more favorable coverage, I think he’s dreaming,” he said.

Former George W. Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer likewise said he agreed that some outlets were biased—but argued the answer was to challenge them, not restrict them, as this could backfire in the future.

“Don’t ban them,” Fleischer wrote. “Or one day they’ll ban us.”

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Farrah TomazinPolitical Correspondent

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