In a strange segment on CNN, Georgetown constitutional law professor Michele Goodwin claimed it is “not a stretch” to compare President Donald Trump’s ban of CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House to the January 6 protest that the media has spent years whining about.
Goodwin joined the network shortly after a federal judge ordered the White House to restore access for the liberal outlets.
Despite the order, the White House did not rush to let them back in.
“This may indeed make its way up to the United States Supreme Court. This is a losing issue for this administration, but as Brian said, this is something that is deeply alarming and quite egregious,” Goodwin said. “It is not a stretch to think about this in conversation with January 6 in terms of thinking about how egregious it is.”
Goodwin continued, “Let’s put this in context. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution was proposed in 1789. That’s 237 years ago. Two hundred and thirty-seven years of understanding freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom to petition your government.”
“Let’s also understand that it is almost a century of Supreme Court precedent that has further underscored freedom of the press,” she said.
“Explicit cases that have said that, whether it’s state legislatures, whether it’s the federal government, can’t impose what’s called prior restraints, which means you can’t think that the news media may say something that’s unfavorable to a president, to a governor, to a mayor and say, well, you just can’t cover. That is very clear, almost a century of precedent before the United States Supreme Court. So this is an administration that knew the law was not on its side.”
WATCH:
Here was the moment when the Georgetown professor compared CNN/MS NOW/Politico being banned from the White House to January 6…
“[T]his may indeed make its way up to the United States Supreme Court. This is a losing issue for this administration, but as Brian said, this is… pic.twitter.com/aScHePEzJ8
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) September 24, 2026
Trump announced the ban on Truth Social last week, calling the outlets fake news and saying they “shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES.”
Reporters were turned away the following day.
The outlets sued, arguing viewpoint discrimination.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump first-term appointee, issued a temporary restraining order around 1 a.m. Thursday.
Judge Kelly said the ban likely violated due process and that the White House’s “truthfulness” standard was too vague.
The judge ultimately ordered the passes returned for 14 days.
Reporters were still blocked for hours after the ruling, but access was restored later in the day.
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