Woke CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter and anchor Jake Tapper criticized the Trump White House after CNN was barred from traveling aboard Air Force One during President Donald Trump’s Saturday trip to a Tennessee–Texas college football game. CNN had been scheduled to serve as the rotating television pool network, recording the president’s activities and sharing footage with ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC when space was limited.
“He is picking a fight with the people who are telling unpleasant truths about his administration,” Stelter said on CNN, warning, “Today, yes, it happens to be CNN, but tomorrow it could be any other news outlet.” Tapper raised the exclusion Sunday with U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz, saying, “I would just ask if you could please convey to President Trump to let CNN back in the pool.”
“It was not OK when President Obama tried to freeze FOX out of the pool back in 2009,” Tapper added, arguing that presidents should not decide which organizations may cover them. Waltz defended the administration’s position by calling for “fair and objective and well-sourced reporting” and alleging that some coverage followed a “negative agenda” rather than the facts.
The Air Force One dispute followed Trump’s broader decision to revoke White House access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico because, he said on Truth Social, they reported “FICTION and LIES.” U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly temporarily restored the outlets’ White House credentials after finding likely due-process violations, but his order addressed access to the White House grounds and did not explicitly cover Air Force One or pool assignments.
In a video posted to social media by the White House over the weekend, Trump reiterated his justification by telling a reporter, “I want real news, not fake news,” while Tapper attempted to counter by saying that every president he had covered had been frustrated with the press.
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