The White House has once again barred CNN from serving as the primary television pool representative for President Donald Trump, marking the second such exclusion within seven days.
The news network was previously excluded on Saturday from pool duty aboard Air Force One. That removal occurred despite a federal district judge ruling two days earlier to overturn the administration’s access ban targeting CNN, MS Now, and Politico, reports Guardian.
On Sunday, an official White House schedule initially listed CNN as the in-town television pooler for Thursday’s agenda, with conservative broadcaster Real America’s Voice designated as the secondary pooler.
However, administration officials abruptly removed CNN late Wednesday evening, leaving Real America’s Voice as the sole pooler for the president’s visits to Texas and Oklahoma.
Major US broadcast and cable news networks have declined to air footage provided by Real America’s Voice, despite the outlet broadcasting its feed widely.
Following the White House’s initial ban on CNN on 18 September, the five primary television pool networks suspended joint operations before tentatively resuming coverage on a day-by-day basis last Friday.
In line with Saturday’s precedent, the remaining four pool members refused to substitute for CNN on Thursday, leaving the multi-state presidential trip without primary pool video coverage, although individual outlets retain the option to cover separate portions of the tour.
CNN declined to comment on its exclusion. In contrast, a White House representative issued a statement praising Trump’s level of media accessibility while characterising television networks as “performative and dishonest”.
Meanwhile, legal representatives for CNN, MS Now, and Politico formally petitioned the court earlier this week to extend the judge’s order invalidating the ban for an additional 14 days.
The court is scheduled to conduct a hearing to evaluate arguments from both sides regarding a preliminary injunction that would block the restrictions while the media organisations’ 21 September lawsuit proceeds.
Theodore J Boutrous, lead attorney for the news outlets, stated that the White House continues to implement an unconstitutional press restriction unpredictably and inconsistently, to the detriment of CNN, its media partners, and the public.
