‘Assault on fake news, grown like cancer’: Trump as top US media move court over White House ban
US President Donald Trump on Monday defended the move to ban top US media from White House calling it an “assault on fake news”. This comes after MS NOW, CNN and Politico said that they would sue the Trump administration to protect their First Amendment rights.“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 said in a post on Truth Social.“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!” he added.Betsy Klein of CNN and Akayla Gardner of MS NOW, two White House reporters from the two cable networks, went live to report that when they arrived for their positions at the White House, they were turned away and had their press badges revoked.Soon after, Politico reported that Cheyenne Haslett, its White House reporter, was also refused admission and had her badge taken away.The measures were the most recent test of First Amendment rights in the US and a blatant escalation of Trump’s long-running attempts to limit news coverage by journalists he considers offensive, both through administrative action and in court. Trump had announced on Friday that he would ban all three outlets due to news coverage he didn’t like.
