FIRST AMENDMENT? WHAT FIRST AMENDMENT?
CNN Reporter Banned From White House Event for Asking a Question – Journalists, Internet Furious

White House Correspondents’ Association Calls Move Retaliatory and ‘Weak’
The White House Wednesday afternoon banned a CNN reporter from an open press event in the Rose Garden because of a question she had asked the president earlier in the day.
“Collins was asked to come to Bill Shine’s office. Shine, a former co-president of Fox News, is the new deputy chief of staff for communications. Shine and press secretary Sarah Sanders met Collins there,” CNN reports.
“They said ‘You are dis-invited from the press availability in the Rose Garden today,'” Kaitlan Collins, a White House reporter for CNN says, according to the network. “They said that the questions I asked were inappropriate for that venue. And they said I was shouting.”
Collins said she reacted by saying, “You’re banning me from an event because you didn’t like the questions I asked.”
Collins said Shine and Sanders asserted that “we’re not banning your network. Your photographers can still come. Your producers can still come. But you are not invited to the Rose Garden today.”
What is the question President Trump didn’t like?
Heres Collins explaining what happened, including footage of the questions the president didn’t like:
The White House banned Kaitlan Collins, a White House reporter for CNN, from a press event after Collins asked President Trump questions at an Oval Office photo op https://t.co/7QN8CoZ7sp pic.twitter.com/hWspq7W1yy
— CNN (@CNN) July 25, 2018
Collins is no “liberal” journalist. Before working for CNN she was the White House Correspondent for the right wing website The Daily Caller.
The White House Corespondents’ Association issued a statement calling the move “weak”:
White House Correspondents’ Association statement on White House barring the TV pool reporter (@kaitlancollins) from an open press event today: pic.twitter.com/BJFuO37KSr
— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) July 25, 2018
Outrage over the ban, especially from journalists at many different outlets, was immediate:
Wait, Bill Shine did something creepy and bullying to a woman who works for a cable news network? How shocking.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) July 25, 2018
To be clear, White House now claiming right to determine what journalists’ questions are appropriate or not. This is a major escalation that should concern all journalists. Read the questions, they were straightforward questions about the two big stories of the day. https://t.co/FalINDRH7T
— Susan Glasser (@sbg1) July 25, 2018
As today’s radio pooler, I was in the Oval Office with @kaitlancollins, heard her questions, thought they were good and timely ones, and find an official government sanction in response to them an absolute, stunning outrage.
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) July 25, 2018
Additionally, all of these questions are directly relevant to what the president himself has been tweeting about! Just the morning, it was Trump who posed the question about what kind of lawyer tapes his client. https://t.co/kynprLA3la
— Caitlin Huey-Burns (@CHueyBurns) July 25, 2018
Siren – my kick ass colleague @kaitlancollins was banned from an open press event for asking legit questions of the president on behalf of the 5 network pool. As a former White House reporter and as an American – this is outrageous and highly alarming.
— Dana Bash (@DanaBashCNN) July 25, 2018
The White House today banned CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins from an open press event. Fits perfectly with the news that Trump was outraged when he saw Melania watching CNN on Air Force One. This is the behavior of a dictator. pic.twitter.com/9C2gTEddSH
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) July 25, 2018
White House blocks @kaitlancollins from open press event because they didn’t like her questions earlier. This is another step toward authoritarianism and a blow against basic press freedom. Where is the WHCA? Where is the solidarity?
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) July 25, 2018
1) It’s one thing to not answer a question. Quite another to not even be willing to hear it.
2) There was a time when the WH would complain about undemocratic countries doing this kind of thing
3) This is outrageous and other networks, including Fox News, should make that clear https://t.co/Y6GKgvu14L
— Matt Viser (@mviser) July 25, 2018
That last bit about shouting is *super* gendered. They all shout questions and they always have. https://t.co/MB2DjjqIHs
— Joshua Holland 🔥 (@JoshuaHol) July 25, 2018
As a member of the White House Press pool- @FoxNews stands firmly with @CNN on this issue and the issue of access https://t.co/TFwfLQtP9h
— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) July 25, 2018
In 2012, a Daily Caller writer interrupted a president during a speech (which never happens), wasn't punished by the WH or WHCA. https://t.co/ZtB525q7Op
Today, a CNN reporter shouted Qs to a president in a pool spray (which happens all the time), was banned by WH from an event.
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) July 25, 2018
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