‘The Man is Sick’: Obama Stops Pulling Punches and Calls Trump’s Press Ban What It Is As Other Networks Hit Trump with Major Blow
Former President Barack Obama said that he could hardly imagine what would have happened if he had kicked Fox News out of the White House for unfavorable coverage — a comparison he made while taking aim at President Donald Trump’s decision to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico, calling the move “unimaginable!”
Obama was talking about democracy during a fireside chat at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, on Friday, when the conversation turned to a question that would have sounded almost absurd during his presidency: What if the White House simply decided certain news organizations could no longer cover it?
He imagined the backlash if his administration had barred Fox News — then pointed directly at Trump’s decision to shut CNN, MS NOW and Politico out of the White House.
Obama used the episode to make a larger argument about what Americans should expect from a functioning democracy, saying the system’s laws and institutions are not enough if people lose sight of the principles behind them.
His comments came as CNN, MS NOW and Politico announced Monday that they were suing the Trump administration over the loss of White House access.
“This morning, we notified the government that we are filing a lawsuit today to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes,” the outlets said in a joint statement.
“Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists’ credentials because it objected to our reporting. Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference.”
Obama said the media ban was the kind of action he could not have imagined taking himself, even as he acknowledged that his own administration had faced fierce coverage from conservative outlets.
“If we don’t get that right, then the mechanics of democracy won’t be enough, as we’ve seen, because we’ve just seen a whole bunch of laws in place that have been blown through in ways I would never have anticipated,” Obama said.
“My imagination could not foresee some of the stuff that’s going on right now. … 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!”
Trump has defended the ban by portraying the three organizations as sources of what he calls “FAKE NEWS.” On Monday, he wrote on Truth Social:
“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.
Trump continued: “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!”
The White House turned away reporters from the three outlets Saturday and seized CNN reporter Betsy Klein’s press pass, according to CNN. The administration had not identified a specific story that prompted the ban.
The dispute quickly spread beyond the three organizations. The television networks that share the White House press pool declined to replace CNN after the White House barred the network from performing its scheduled duties Monday. The five-network arrangement — ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News — rotates responsibility for providing camera crews and live presidential coverage to the broader news media.
The White House Correspondents’ Association also objected to the restrictions, according to NBC News.
“The Constitution protects the freedom of the press from government interference. That protection does not depend on whether the president likes a news organization’s coverage, agrees with its reporting, or approves of the questions its journalists ask,” Jacqui Heinrich, the group’s president, said.
The issue split Congress along familiar political lines.
Sen. John Barrasso rejected the suggestion that Trump had violated the Constitution, while repeatedly arguing that journalists have an obligation to report fairly.
“No, I believe the press has an obligation to report fairly,” the Wyoming Republican said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
When host Kristen Welker pressed the three-term senator further, he responded, “We all respect and value the freedom of the press — it’s in the Constitution.”
Barrasso went on to suggest an equivalency between the White House press ban and social media companies barring Trump from their platforms.
“He was banned from Twitter. He was banned from Facebook, and I didn’t see people come to his defense,” the senator said. “So it goes both ways. The press has an obligation to report fairly, and the president doesn’t see it happening that way.”
Barrasso also said he did not expect the dispute to affect Republicans in the approaching midterm elections.
“The bottom line on all of this is: This is not going to have an impact on an election 44 days from now,” Barrasso said. “People are going to go to the voting booth. They’re going to make a decision based on their life, their future, what they believe is best for them and their families.”
Sen. Cory Booker offered the opposite assessment when he appeared on the same program.
“It clearly does,” Booker said when asked whether the ban violated the First Amendment, NBC reported.
“This president has no regard for the First Amendment,” the New Jersey Democrat added. “He’s going after reporters, and this ban just doubles down on that.”
Online, reactions to Obama’s hypothetical about Fox News ranged from political what-ifs to broader criticism of Trump.
One person wrote Obama would have faced fierce backlash if he had pulled the same stunt as Trump, saying: “The Republicans would have flipped the White House upside down.”
Another recalled the controversy over Obama’s tan suit, writing, “I meannnn…. Some people were upset about a tan suit so yea im sure had he pulled something like this we would’ve never heard the end of it.”
A third reaction pulled no punches: “Trump is terminally Narcissistic!!! The man is SICK in the head. Period!”
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