CNN barred from Air Force One as White House media restrictions continue

CNN has been barred from flying on Air Force One to cover President Donald Trump on behalf of major television networks, the latest media restriction by the White House.

CNN was replaced by Real America’s Voice News, a conservative outlet, for the president’s trip to attend a college football game in Knoxville, Tennessee, according to White House guidance.

Last week, Trump announced he banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from White House grounds.

The White House press pool consists of five major broadcast outlets that take turns recording and distributing video. In a show of solidarity, the other four providers – Fox, ABC, CBS and NBC – declined to participate in the pool until access was restored.

The three barred news outlets responded to Trump’s ban with a lawsuit alleging the White House violated their First Amendment rights.

“Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference,” their statement said.

US District Judge Timothy Kelly temporarily struck down the ban in an overnight ruling early on Thursday, saying the government’s argument lacked “factual support” for the claim that the outlets were barred to protect national security.

“Defendants offer no declarations or other support – classified or unclassified – explaining how any of the reporting they identified in their letters to Plaintiffs damaged the national security,” Kelly said in the ruling.

The judge’s decision addressed press passes to the White House and did not directly mention pool duties or Air Force One.

Earlier on Friday, the news outlets’ attorney Theodore Boutrous Jr said on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” that the plaintiffs believe the judge’s ruling also covers the issue of pool access.

The spot on the presidential jet that was meant for CNN has long been reserved for a member of the US network video pool, which Real America’s Voice News is not a part of.