Mediaite reports Fox News has uttered no opinions and made no statement on President Donald Trump’s Friday decision to ban CNN, MS NOW and other news organizations that publish stories he does not like.
“President Donald Trump banned three news organizations from the White House on Friday, but one would never know that by only watching Fox News’s primetime lineup that night,” reports Mediaite.
In a Truth Social screed, the president claimed: “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,” Trump said, adding that, “Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.”
“The blacklisting of three major news organizations was itself the big news of the day, especially on the airwaves of affected parties CNN and MS NOW, as to be expected. But on Fox News, the ban was virtually ignored,” reports Mediaite. “Trump first made his announcement on Truth Social just after 3 p.m. ET. Later that hour, Fox began carrying Trump’s press gaggle from the Oval Office, where several reporters asked about the ban. When the gaggle ended during the 4 p.m. hour, Fox News host Will Cain did not acknowledge the ban on The Will Cain Show, and neither did the following program, The Five. It was only at the end of Special Report – Fox’s flagship evening news program – that the ban was discussed, albeit quite briefly.”
Additionally, Mediaite reports from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., there was no mention of Trump’s media ban to be found.
“There was no mention of the ban from Laura Ingraham on The Ingraham Angle, guest host Charlie Hurt on Jesse Watters Primetime, Sean Hannity on Hannity, or guest host Kennedy on Gutfeld!” Mediaite reports. “The ban received a brief mention on Fox during the late-night hour on Fox News at Night, where Trace Gallagher spent 25 seconds reporting on it.”
On Friday, CNN anchor Jake Tapper reminded a guest how the Obama White House had determined Fox News to not be a legitimate news organization, and they tried to get them excluded from a pool interview.
“I remember when I was a White House correspondent back in the Stone Age, during the first Obama Term, and … they didn’t ban them but they tried to get them excluded from a pool interview with a newsmaker who was part of the administration. The White House Correspondents Association and all the networks said, ‘no you can’t do that. It doesn’t matter if you don’t like what they report — we might not like what they report, or say or whatever,’” said Tapper. “It’ll be interesting to see if Fox repeats that same kind of affirmation.”
“One hopes that there will be solidarity within the new corps pushing back on these unconstitutional infringements on the freedom of the press,” said Tapper’s guest, Conor Fitzpatrick, chief supervising attorney of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).
One night and one day later, Mediaite reports both Tapper and Fitzpatrick appear to have their answer.
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