Former White House Press Corps Head Responds to Trump Banning Outlets from WH by Quoting First Amendment

AP Photo/Tom Brenner

Weijia Jiang, CBS News Senior White House Correspondent and former president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, reacted to President Donald Trump’s declaration he was “banning” several outlets from the White House by quoting the First Amendment.

Jiang led the WHCA until Fox News Senior White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich was elected as her successor this summer. During Jiang’s tenure, the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April was postponed until July after a gunman fired multiple shots.

On Friday, Trump wrote a Truth Social post saying he was “banning” CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House, citing his usual claims of “Fake News” and threatening that other outlets would soon be banned too:

I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW (who recently changed their name from MSNBC due to lack of viewership and credibility!), and Politico (The recipients of an illegal and ridiculous $8 Million Dollar subscription, an All Time Record, directly from the United States Government, under Crooked Joe Biden, in order to keep them “alive.” Seems like corruption to me!), from the White House as a result of their constant “reporting” FAKE NEWS! Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America. Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP

Jiang reacted to Trump’s post by sharing the text of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The text of the amendment reads:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The current pinned tweet on the WHCA’s account on X is a similar issue, a link to an article about a judge ruling that the White House could not bar AP journalists, finding that it was an attempt to punish the media outlet for the content of its speech and therefore in violation of the First Amendment.

Current WHCA President Heinrich posted her own statement later Friday, which was also shared by the WHCA account.

Wrote Heinrich:

The president said it plainly in the Oval Office, describing his own planned action as a “ban on the free press.”

The Constitution protects the freedom of the press from government interference. That protection does not depend on whether the president likes a news organization’s coverage, agrees with its reporting, or approves of the questions its journalists ask.

This is about more than the rights of journalists. It is about the right of the American people to receive a full and independent account of the activities, policies and decisions of whoever occupies the nation’s highest office.

The WHCA stands in defense of our colleagues at CNN, MSNOW, and POLITICO who are being singled out for doing their jobs.

– Jacqui Heinrich, WHCA President

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