Former Trump Official Slams Press Ban as WH TV Pool Returns: ‘Incredibly Mixed Messaging About American Values’

White House TV pool coverage returned Friday for the first time since President Donald Trump banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico just in time for the final day of Chinese President Xi Jingping’s state visit to Washington D.C.

CNN carried pool coverage of the Chinese leader’s arrival to the White House as Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former Trump administration communications official, remarked on the absence of the American press for the beginning of the summit, calling it “a shame.”

Griffin, a co-host of The View, went on to say the summit was a missed opportunity to hold up “American values” to the world:

Just incredibly mixed messaging about American values and about who we are as a democratic republic versus communist China. The freedom of the press is the backbone of our constitutional republic.

And this should be a moment where we’re showing the world our values. We’re showing the Chinese government our values.

And so to have this, this sort of stand off with American press while standing next to one of the most repressive governments in the world, really does not reflect well upon America.

But there’s also a lot in this backdrop. I think there’s been quite a bit of criticism of just the degree to which the president and the White House are wanting to really celebrate the Chinese president.

Whether it’s the president greeting him at the airport when he arrived, something that was not in honor that the Chinese government had given to President Trump, whether it was literally rolling out the red carpet, when you know that there are human rights abuses taking place, you know that there are people who are being held as political prisoners in China.

There’s the Uyghur Muslims who have been, you know, detained and abused in some really horrific things happening. It’s an odd moment when we’re trying to signal what American values are and I’m not sure that they’re coming across in this summit.

Subsequent footage showed the world leaders greeting each other as the press could be heard in the background shouting questions to Trump.

Trump abruptly banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House on Sept. 18, prompting the news outlets to sue.

A judge sided with the news organizations on Thursday and ordered the Trump administration to lift its ban, but drama ensued when the White House did not promptly comply with the judge’s order. 

The White House TV pool boycotted coverage in solidarity with CNN after the ban.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!