There were shockwaves raging through the press industry this weekend after the announcement on Friday that a press ban was invoked at the White House. Three major outlets – CNN, MS NOW, and Politico – learned they were among those finding their access blocked.

This is a ridiculous, overreaching position by the administration, and it will likely be rescinded at some point. The three outlets have already joined in a lawsuit against the administration over the decision. There really is no way the White House comes out looking good over this press ban, but the powers seem intent.

From being petty to oppressive, the administration looks like reactionary harpies. But they are unbothered by the impressions this leaves. CNN announced this morning that it has also now been removed from press pool duties. So this appears to be a fight that will play out for the time being.

But while this is a stern move by the administration, the press reactions, while predictable, also come off as hyperbolic, given the past reactions to similar moves by previous presidents.

Or more accurately, the lack of outrage. We did not see much in the way of widespread claims of First Amendment violations by Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama. While different, those guys enacted their share of crude actions with the media, and many in the press just took it on the chin.

The previous administration did not face much outrage and accusations of a press ban when it cancelled hundreds of White House passes with a restructuring of qualifications. Biden’s team also blocked the New York Post from political events for a time, in reaction to its coverage of the Hunter Biden laptop.

President Obama was also known for his intemperate approach to the press. He blocked media access frequently, and even prevented photographers from news outlets from recording pedestrian White House events. Instead, the pool was fed only approved images provided by the administration.

This is the same Obama who dove into the phone records of Associated Press reporters and targeted James Rosen, then with Fox News. He was also jailing sources used by reporters at a record clip.

Obama’s press limitations reached comical levels. At one point, the media was blocked entirely from an event where he was being given an award for transparency. The group that was granting this honor was not even made aware that the gathering was off limits to the media.

So again, this move by the Trump White House is wrong and excessive. Listening to the press reactions to it this weekend was simply a bit much to take. Considering that this is the group that was repeatedly shown to comply with feeding President Biden questions, and abiding by his press conference rules ahead of time, today’s bleating is a bit overwrought.

On MS NOW’s Connect with Jacob Soboroff, the titular host was selling this as something never seen in the White House before. (Cited examples above, noted.) But amusement arrived when he discussed this with reporter Akayla Gardner, who detailed what she experienced when she learned she was locked out.

What we see from Gardner is a lack of introspection. While this development must anger her, the focus and priority she places on things is certainly misplaced. She said:

This is clearly a distraction from the news of the day, from the ongoing war, from with Iran. And instead of talking about that news, we are talking about the fact that journalists, people who come here every single day to report the news, are not allowed to do their jobs.

But Akayla, YOU are the one choosing to talk about this move, rather than the news you say is more important. You are still allowed to do your job. Instead, you are choosing to focus on what you declare is a distraction.

Joining in on the outrage, in completely expected fashion, is Brian Stelter. He was, of course, leaning into the violation of free speech and the expected arguments to go along with that position. What many have also come to expect is that he will ignore and/or forget his past positions on such matters as White House stifling of press access.

This is the same Brian Stelter who once forwarded the idea on a CNN panel to have Fox News removed from the White House press pool. Watch as he tees up another reporter — ex-Baltimore Sun columnist David Zuwarik — with the question of having that network be given a targeted press ban, absent any regard for First Amendment concerns.

Well look at this.

March, 2021. CNN’s Brian Stelter does a segment on if President Biden should remove Fox News from the White House Press Pool.

Censorship for thee, just not for me. pic.twitter.com/cs56eS87EC

— MAZE (@mazemoore) September 19, 2026

Note the difference in approach when it is Fox, compared to CNN. Today Brian’s network has its rights violated; when he was pushing for Fox to be removed, however, it was justified as removing a privilege. Convenient how this label shifts, depending on who is facing a press ban.

This follows his other calls to muzzle and mute Fox News. Stelter called it outlandish to suggest he wanted Fox taken off the air, just after he and his former CNN cohort Oliver Darcy lobbied cable providers to have the network stricken from their channel offerings.

It followed his other calls to have Fox otherwise silenced, providing glib phrases to justify his version of censorship: “Reducing a liar’s reach is not the same as censoring freedom of speech.” So they have the freedom of expression, but not the freedom to be heard, in other words.

It was acceptable when Stelter wanted a network removed from working in the White House. But look at the stark difference when his network is swept up in a press ban; suddenly rights are violated.

This is the problem today in selling the oppressive level of this White House debacle it has created for itself. It is bad and wrong to take these steps with the press, but it is difficult to measure just how bad, based on how permissive and incurious these same journalists were when it was Obama and Biden enforcing oppressive standards upon them.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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