Scott Jennings Pans Trump for Defying Judge’s Orders: ‘Follow Those Immediately’

CNN commentator Scott Jennings dinged President Donald Trump on Thursday, shortly after the network was denied access to a White House state dinner.

Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping and invited his counterpart and other attendees to tour the ongoing construction of the White House ballroom. The dinner came less than a day after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore the press credentials of CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, which Trump revoked from the White House last week.

Shortly before the dinner, the 7 p.m. programs on CNN and MS NOW kicked off the top of the hour by breaking the news that despite the judge’s order, the White House barred them from covering guest arrivals at the dinner.

“The breaking news – denied,” Erin Burnett reported on OutFront. “CNN denied access moments ago to cover the guest arrivals of President Trump’s state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping, blocked after a judge shot down Trump’s ban to keep CNN, Politico, and MS NOW out of the White House grounds.”

Jennings, who is reportedly in contention to be the next White House press secretary, appeared on AC360 the following hour.

“Scott, was this smart of the president?” Anderson Cooper asked. “I mean, this was a big event he wanted covered and he’s not getting the coverage.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Jennings replied. “This was a predictable outcome by the way in court this morning. Glad to see Kaitlan [Collins] back on the White House grounds. But if you’re President Trump or you support President Trump, you want him to get all the coverage that you would want to get from something like this. You’d want him not to be muted. You’d want him to be fully available and projecting to the American people. And you’re not getting that right now. So that’s a miss.”

He then urged the president to follow the judge’s orders.

“I think legal judgments ought to be followed,” Jennings continued. “So, when judges make decisions, we ought to follow those immediately. I’m glad we’re back on the grounds tonight. But overall, as a strategic matter, just as a communications person, I wouldn’t want to put my client or a principal in a position where they’re not getting all the coverage that either they want or the American people in this case, would deserve, because we’re talking about a government official.”

Last Friday, Trump announced he had banned the aforementioned outlets from covering the White House. The organizations sued and scored a victory in the wee hours of Thursday morning, when a judge ordered the administration to restore their access.

Early Thursday morning, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly issued a 14-day temporary restraining order. Such orders are issued before a court reviews a case more comprehensively. Despite the ruling, the White House still prevented the three organizations from entering the White House, but the administration ultimately relented and restored their access.

The White House defended the state dinner ban in a post on social media.

“This is a pre-credentialed event. Contrary to what the Fake News wants you to believe, they don’t just get to have free rein into every part of the White House, every event, and every press call,” the post said.

Watch above via CNN.

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