President Donald Trump's decision to ban CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House prompted a network boycott in solidarity and a ribbon cutting ceremony on the White House's South Lawn came with completely indecipherable audio because the press pool has decided to stop filming daily events.
Footage from a Monday ribbon cutting ceremony revealed that the sounds of the Marine One chopper just yards away drowned out Trump's remarks. The far-right network Newsmax was on the scene, and even they had to admit that Trump's attack against the free press seemed to be “backfiring just a little bit.”
You can watch what happened in the video below.
CNN had been scheduled to handle television pool coverage for Monday’s presidential events, but a White House schedule released late Sunday removed the network from that assignment. The move came days after Trump announced that CNN, Politico and MS NOW would be barred from the White House, citing what he characterized as unfavorable and false coverage.
The five networks that rotate responsibility for the White House television pool—CNN, Fox News, ABC, NBC and CBS—subsequently agreed not to provide pooled video coverage of the president while CNN remained excluded.
Under the pool system, one network is responsible for producing video and audio that can be shared with other news organizations, allowing outlets to divide the expense of covering presidential events and provide access when the number of available press positions is limited.
Fox News Washington bureau chief Bryan Boughton, who is currently chairing the pool, announced:
“This is to advise that, 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.”
“All other pool coverage will continue as normal, including Congress, VIPs, and selected events in Washington and around this country. We will provide further updates as this situation develops.”
The five networks in the pool also released a statement of their own:
"The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting.”
The awkwardness of the ribbon cutting ceremony showed that Trump felt the consequences of his decision immediately.
On Monday, CNN, Politico and MS NOW also filed a federal lawsuit against Trump and other administration officials, arguing that the White House had violated their First Amendment rights and denied them due process by revoking their access and credentials. The outlets are seeking to have their access restored and the ban blocked.
Other forms of pool coverage, including print, photography and radio, were set to continue, along with secondary television pool assignments that were not directly affected by CNN’s removal.
