Obama Condemns Trump’s Authoritarian Attack on Press Freedom with White House Media Ban
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Former President Barack Obama denounced the Trump administration’s exclusion of CNN, MSNBC, and Politico from the White House, calling it a dangerous, non-partisan assault on fundamental rights. Obama warned that no president should silence criticism, highlighting the threat to democracy.
At a Salem State University event, former President Barack Obama spoke with historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, fiercely criticizing President Donald Trump’s authoritarian move to bar CNN, MSNBC, and Politico from the White House. Obama insisted this was not a mere partisan squabble but a grave press-freedom issue, warning of the chilling precedent it sets for democracy. He pointed out the hypocrisy of Trump’s supporters, noting that Republicans would never tolerate a Democratic president banning Fox News, and stressed that 'the president of the United States can’t take some criticism.'
Obama passionately defended the free press as 'foundational,' condemning government discrimination against media outlets that dare to publish critical reporting. He reflected on his own administration’s efforts to expand press freedom globally, contrasting them with Trump’s brazen attacks on journalists and media access.
Trump, in a characteristic display of contempt for dissent, announced the ban on social media, smearing the targeted outlets as 'fake news' and declaring them unwelcome in the White House. The three organizations have since filed lawsuits to reclaim their right to access. Obama sounded the alarm about the absence of moral guardrails within Trump’s party, emphasizing the constitutional protection of free speech that is now under threat.
'The free press, the idea that the government cannot discriminate against, or pick on, or bully, or exclude somebody because they don’t like the criticism that’s being leveled at them, that is a foundational issue.' – Barack Obama
'The issue is not the fact that (the ban) ultimately will be overturned. The issue is the brazenness with which any president could act like this, and the people in his or her own party not say, ‘No, you cannot do that. That’s not acceptable.’' – Barack Obama