Trump Totally Drowned Out By Background Noise on WH Official Feed in First Appearance Since TV Press Pool’s Boycott

President Donald Trump participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the White House on Monday, an event that was not carried live by the WH television pool, but only on the White House’s official feed.

As Trump was not near a network mic, his remarks at the ribbon-cutting for the new helipad were completely drowned out by background noise. Notably, so-called “chopper talk” is often difficult to hear, but the White House press pool helps to clear out the background noise with their mics.

Trump’s event was not carried live by broadcast or cable news networks as Fox News, ABC News, CBS News, CNN, and NBC News joined together on Monday and pulled their TV cameras from White House pool, effectively boycotting coverage of the Trump White House following the ban on CNN, MS NOW, and Politico.

“The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting,” said the five networks that make up the White House TV press pool in a joint statement.

Weijia Jiang, the former president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, offered some context on the pool’s infrastructure in a Monday tweet. “Actually, the networks literally built the infrastructure to transmit from the White House. They’re the ones with the resources to do it daily. That includes a considerable amount for staff, equipment, & travel costs. We then pool footage to other outlets. It is a public service,” she noted.

The boycott was announced by White House TV pool rotational chair and Fox News Washington Bureau Chief Bryan Boughton, who wrote, “Effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President. This follows the White House’s position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties. There will be no replacement pool put in place.”

Broughton’s advisory was for Monday and it is unclear if it applies going forward.

Watch above.

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