Last week, President Trump denied MS NOW, CNN, and Politico access to the White House in another attempt to suppress the press and nullify free speech. This recent banning of news agencies is similar to his attack on the Associated Press last March, which remains partially banned from various White House spaces. Trump said he was banning them because of reporting “fake news.”
On September 21, the three news organizations responded by jointly filing a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration, much in the manner of AP, which asked a federal judge to reinstate its access to the White House press pool. Their lawyer said the ban is a fundamental attack on freedom of speech, which is a constitutional guarantee.
As we have come to learn repeatedly, however, the president is no respecter of constitutional or democratic rights. When he finds anything disagreeable or inconsistent with his policies, he moves to stifle it, as he has done with practically everything related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). While he has not offered a single story he considered “fake news,” he merely stated that “I don’t want them in my office … if they straighten themselves out, I would love it.” In other words, we surmise, media outlets must go along with his MAGA beliefs and toe his reactionary line.
Restricting the press is another phase of Trump’s dictatorial control of the government, and is exceedingly detrimental as we enter the last month or so until the midterm elections. Many pundits conclude that his limiting the press will curtail the possibility of negative information from the White House or other governmental agencies.
“The White House belongs to the American people and the decisions made inside are funded by our tax dollars,” a MS NOW spokesperson said. “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.”
To some extent, Trump’s charges of “fake news” are reminiscent of the case of John Peter Zenger in 1735, who was accused of libel after he criticized the government. Zenger was arrested and imprisoned for refusing to stop printing his fierce criticisms of New York’s royal governor. Eventually, he was found innocent by a jury after his attorney argued that he had a fundamental right to print the truth about public corruption to guard against tyranny.
CNN, MS NOW, Politico, and other news outlets possess the same guarantees, and no fair-minded judge or jury can deny these rights, “fake news” accusations or not.
