Did Barack Obama try to ban Fox News from the White House? Fact checking claim amid Trump’s media ban
Following President Donald Trump’s announcement Friday that he will ban three major US media outlets – Politico, MS Now and CNN- from the White House. As the decision faced criticism, aa section of Trump supporters claimed that even President Barack Obama had tried to ban Fox News in his second term.
However, the claim is only partially true. It concerns an incident around October 2009, when the Obama White House and Fox were engaged in a bitter feud, and the White House accused Fox of operating as the Republican Party’s political arm.
Did Obama Try To Ban Fox News?
The feud reached its peak on October 22, 2009 when the Treasury Department tried to leave out a Fox journalist from the multi-network press pool slated to interview with the then Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation. But the ban was for a few hours, and the Obama administration allowed Fox back into the pool following protests from other news outlets, including CNN.
Also read: Why Trump is banning CNN, Politico and MS Now from the White House; What we know so far
Thus, the claim that the Obama administration tried to ban Fox News from the White House is false. Fox was excluded from the October 22, 2009. The permission was later reinstated, and Fox was able to cover the interview.
This, Obama did not try to ban Fox News. The White House under him tried to exclude the outlet from one interview but ultimately did not.
Why Did Trump Ban CNN, Politico And MS Now?
Trump on Friday announced via a Truth Social post that he will be banning the journalists from the three outlets from the White House. Accordingly, multiple journalists, including CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, reported that their White House access cards have been deactivated starting Saturday.
Trump did not provide any specific reason behind implementing the sweeping ban on three of the US’s largest news publishers. He dubbed them “fake news” and announced the subsequent. No specific coverage by the respective outlets was mentioned by the 80-year-old President.
Trump later explained the decision during a press interaction at the Oval Office later on Friday. He said it was the “cumulative stories over the last few years” by the three outlets that prompted him to ban them.
“CNN stands fully behind our White House team and their fair and accurate reporting,” CNN said. Politico, meanwhile, said they will “continue to fairly report on this White House and future ones. We will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights against any attempt to restrict them.”
