Trump vs. CNN: A First Amendment faceoff
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What happened: CNN is suing the Trump administration (
Reuters). The White House suspended press credentials for the network’s chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, after the reporter had a heated exchange with President Trump at a televised press conference (
Bloomberg). The White House is fighting back, saying that Trump has “broad discretion” to regulate press access (
Yahoo News). CNN says the suspension violates the First Amendment right to freedom of the press and the Fifth Amendment right to due process (
Quartz).
The responses: Several media organizations, including Fox News, are backing CNN. Fox News called for Acosta’s reinstatement and said, “Secret Service passes for working White House journalists should never be weaponized” (
Yahoo News). But Fox News host Sean Hannity broke with his network, calling the CNN reporter a “far-left, grandstanding, sycophant left-winger” (
HuffPost). White House adviser Kellyanne Conway told
Yahoo Finance that she doesn’t believe First Amendment rights are “imperiled” under the Trump administration.
White House Correspondents’ Association president Olivier Knox called the White House response “disproportionate” and said in a statement that the president should not be “arbitrarily picking the men and women who cover him” (WHCA). Editors at the
Columbia Journalism Review said the White House acted “unconstitutionally.” Famed Watergate reporter Bob Woodward criticized CNN’s lawsuit, breaking with many fellow journalists, saying the media has “become emotionally unhinged” under Trump (
Fox News).
Gideon Rachman, the Financial Times’ chief foreign affairs commentator, warned that Trump’s rhetoric makes it increasingly dangerous for journalists abroad, especially those working under dictatorships. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner told
Yahoo Finance that Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi wouldn’t have been murdered if Trump weren’t attacking the press.
Where things stand
CNN’s lawsuit names Trump, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, White House chief of staff John Kelly, deputy communications chief Bill Shine, Secret Service Director Randolph Alles, the U.S. Secret Service and the unnamed agent who took Acosta’s press pass (
National Review). See the White House response here.
Several news organizations have said they plan to file friend-of-the-court briefs in support of CNN’s lawsuit, including Fox News (
Deadline). The news organization also stood by CNN earlier this year when correspondent Kaitlan Collins was banned from covering a Rose Garden event (
Fortune).
Sanders initially said Acosta’s press pass was revoked because he had laid his hands on a female White House intern, tweeting out a misleadingly distorted video of the exchange (
Yahoo News). But the White House changed its story on Tuesday, issuing a statement claiming that Acosta had refused to yield time to other reporters (
HuffPost).
Why it matters
Trump’s had issues with the First Amendment in the past. Earlier this year, a federal judge ruled that his blocking of Twitter users based on their political views had violated the First Amendment (
Reuters). And since the start of his presidential campaign, Trump has used his platform to hurl insults at the press, singling out reporters by name and labeling coverage he dislikes as “fake news” (
Reuters). He has also publicly applauded physical violence against reporters, as in a recent pre-midterms rally when he cheered a Montana congressman who body-slammed a reporter, saying, “He’s my kind of guy” (
This isn’t just about Jim Acosta vs. President Trump, or even CNN vs. the White House. It highlights continued (and still escalating) tensions between the White House and the press. U.N. experts warned in August that Trump’s continued attacks on the press could result in violence against journalists (
The Guardian). Last month, after CNN was the target of mail bombs, network president Jeff Zucker issued a scathing criticism of Trump for his attacks on media organizations (
Fortune). Earlier this year, a gunman entered the Capital Gazette newsroom in Maryland and opened fire after claiming the newspaper had defamed him (
The Cut). Five staff members of the newspaper staff were killed, on what according to the Committee to Protect Journalists is the deadliest day for the news media since the 9/11 attacks (
GMA).
What comes next
Federal Judge Timothy J. Kelly, a Trump appointee, is overseeing the case and held a first hearing on Wednesday.
During the hearing, Kelly heard arguments from CNN attorney Theodore Boutrous Jr. and Justice Department attorney James Burnham. Kelly’s line of questioning sought to determine whether Acosta’s pass had been revoked based on the content of his reporting, as CNN claims, or his conduct, as the administration has argued (
ABC News).
Kelly scheduled the next hearing for Friday morning.
