Nicolle Wallace Slams Trump’s ‘Authoritarian Power Grab’ in First MS Now Mention of WH Ban

MS NOW host Nicolle Wallace blasted President Donald Trump’s decision to ban her network and two other news outlets from the White House on Friday, calling the move an “authoritarian power grab” in the network’s first on-air acknowledgment of the ban.

Just shortly before her comments, the president posted on Truth Social:

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

In the Oval Office on Friday afternoon, Trump told reporters there was “no reason” for the ban, citing “cumulative stories over the last two years.”

Speaking alongside her guest, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), on Friday’s edition of MS NOW’s Deadline: White House, Wallace mentioned the ban for the first time on the network’s airwaves, informing her audience, “We, along with CNN and their extraordinary journalists, and our extraordinary White House correspondents, and Politico’s extraordinary journalists, have all been informed just by a Trump post. So, we’ll wait and see what actions they take after that.”

The ban symbolizes an “authoritarian power grab happening in full view,” Wallace continued, adding, “This comes after a disastrous series of polls, including from Fox News, which isn’t actually on this announcement, which is the poll we led with, stories about Iran, that have really, in large part, been driven by great investigative journalists from The Wall Street Journal. I mean, the truth is actually starting to seep in from all over.”

Watch above on MS NOW.

Jason Cohen contributed to this report.

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