MS NOW host Alicia Menendez highlighted a bombshell scoop Tuesday from the network’s congressional reporter Mychael Schnell, who obtained a copy of White House talking points given to GOP lawmakers in defense of the press ban imposed by President Donald Trump.
“It includes this: ’Fabricating facts or reporting verifiable falsehoods from inside the White House complex is an intentional breach of professional decorum, and it is severely disruptive to the mission and purpose of the White House,” Menendez said Tuesday on “On the Line.”
Trump last week banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House before openly brainstorming which outlets might be next. He claimed on social media Monday that this is not an attack against the free press but “an assault on the FAKE NEWS” — calling it “Cancer.”
Trump has dismissed critical but accurate reporting about him as “fake news” since his 2016 presidential run. Menendez on Tuesday said the reason for this latest media ban is clear, stating it was imposed “because of facts that Donald Trump did not like.”
The talking points themselves paint a rather rosy portrait of Trump and his administration.
“No President has been more transparent or offered more of his time to the press,” states the first one. “In addition to working around the clock to serve the American people, President Trump also makes time to bring them into the conversation and answer reporters’ questions.”
“The First Amendment protects their right to publish; it does not entitle certain outlets and members of the press to a hard pass, briefing room seat, or place in the press pool,” states the second talking point, according to the document obtained by Schnell.
Journalists from all three outlets were barred from entering the White House on Saturday and had their press passes seized. The outlets on Monday sued the president in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, citing a “direct assault” on free speech.
Trump is facing disastrous approval ratings amid a nationwide affordability crisis that he has repeatedly dismissed and intensified by driving up food and gas costs with his ongoing war on Iran, spelling potential doom for the GOP in key races of the upcoming midterm elections.
While Vice President JD Vance claimed Monday that the media blockage is “not a ban,” Trump used the word himself in his announcement Friday, writing on his Truth Social platform, “I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW … and Politico.”
Free speech is not the only issue at hand in the legal challenge, however.
“There’s also a violation of due process here, because there are no standards,” MS NOW legal analyst Andrew Weissman told Menendez on Tuesday. “This was done unilaterally without giving the media organizations any opportunity to be heard.”
He concluded, “It is 100% clear to me that when this is heard before the judge tomorrow, who has had a very similar case in the past, that he is going to rule in favor of the news organizations here because of the law in this area.”