White House event muted after president suspends TV press pool over media bans
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President Donald Trump’s decision to bar CNN, MSNBC and Politico from the White House press pool led the television pool to halt coverage of a ribbon-cutting ceremony, leaving the president unable to be heard on live TV.
The White House’s ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday was not broadcast by the television press pool after President Donald Trump suspended the pool’s coverage in response to his ban of three news outlets—CNN, MSNBC and Politico—from White House credentialing. Because the pool’s cameras and microphones were absent, the president’s remarks were not transmitted to the public.
Newsmax host Bianca de la Garza noted that the lack of a microphone “maybe this is one example of [the ban] backfiring,” as video of the event was shown without audio. Several critics and commentators mocked the situation, with Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson describing it as “old man shouts at cloud” and Senator Raphael Warnock joking about the silence.
The three banned outlets announced lawsuits against Trump and senior administration officials, alleging violations of First Amendment rights. The television pool, which normally rotates coverage among ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC, chose not to replace CNN for the event, effectively suspending live TV coverage of the president’s remarks.