Trump “bans the free press” in gross announcement

Brian Tyler Cohen (0:01)

Trump issues a proclamation banning several news outlets from the White House, and I'm joined by David Corn to discuss his new book, How Russia Won. I'm Brian Tyler Cohen, and you're listening to No Lie.

Here's one of the latest edicts from our free speech president. Quote, I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am banning fake news CNN, MSNOW, who recently changed their name from MSNBC due to lack of viewership and credibility, and Politico, the recipients of an illegal and ridiculous $8 million subscription and all-time record directly from the US government under crooked Joe Biden in order to keep them alive. Seems like corruption to me from the White House as a result of their constant reporting fake news. Media outlets shouldn't be able to constantly write or report fiction and lies when they're covering the president of the United States, the Trump administration or the United States of America. Other fake media news outlets to follow. Thank you for your attention to this matter, President Donald J. Trump. Trump was asked about this, here's what he said.

David Corn (0:56)

The ban on the free press, right? A very simple ban. I don't want them in my office. I don't want them here. I would say the ban would go as far as you can.

Brian Tyler Cohen (1:07)

Quote, the ban on the free press, not even trying to hide the fact that he is violating the First Amendment by banning the press from entering the White House, for the crime of reporting critically on what he's doing. Fox's Jackie Heinrich, the president of the White House Correspondence Association, wrote, quote, the president said it plainly in the Oval Office, describing his own planned action as a ban on the free press. The Constitution protects the freedom of the press from government interference. That protection does not depend on whether the president likes a news organization's coverage, agrees with its reporting, or approves of the questions its journalists ask. This is about more than the rights of journalists. It is about the rights of the American people to receive a full and independent account of the activities, policies, and decisions of whoever occupies the nation's highest office. The White House Correspondence Association stands in defense of our colleagues at CNN, MSNOW, and Politico who are being singled out for doing their jobs. Now, a few points here. Obviously, first and foremost, it is not lost on anyone how aggressively anti-free speech this president is and how overtly illegal this move is. He will be sued and this will be overturned in a hot minute. I have zero doubt about that. Like, I rarely make predictions. I will make that prediction and I'll say it is 100% going to happen. Mark my words. But I hope all of these purported free speech champions, people like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, take note that the figure they helped give rise to because they claim to be against censorship is the principal purveyor of exactly that. And this isn't even the first time. He sicked his FCC on comedians for the crime of telling jokes. He's already tried and failed to ban the AP from the White House for accurately describing the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of Mexico. And the list goes on and on.

But here's my second point.

We can all hear all the strongly worded letters in the world from people like Jackie Heinrich at Fox News. But her news outlet runs cover for this guy on a daily basis. They paid $787 million to perpetuate his election lies. So when ABC covers this and complains, remember that they paid him $16 million to settle with him. Same with CBS. Trump doesn't care about your strongly worded letters, because he already knows that he owns these legacy media outlets. They've already shown him how weak they are. They fell over themselves settling every bullshit lawsuit that he brought forward. And so now, when you wag your finger at him for these overt attacks on the free press, you think he cares about that? He's not afraid of you because you already proved to him how weak you are by heaping millions of dollars into his pockets to try and buy goodwill. And what did that get you? Nothing.

That's why, when Trump put my name on his enemies list, instead of quieting down, I talked about it every day. I wore it as a badge of honor, and I dared him to add more names in the independent media space to that list. I didn't cower, I leaned in. And guess what? He never added a single additional name. You don't beat a bully by cowering to him, you beat a bully by punching back. That's a lesson that legacy media could learn but refuses to.