GEHGEH CHALLENGES VERYDARKMAN: ACCUSES ACTIVIST OF TARGETING DAVIDO OVER BURNA BOY FRIENDSHIP AND POLITICAL STANCE. (PHOTO).
CNN was excluded from traveling aboard Air Force One with President Donald Trump on Saturday, with the White House assigning the seat to Real America’s Voice for Trump’s trip to Knoxville, Tennessee.
Trump is scheduled to attend a college football game between the University of Tennessee and the University of Texas during the midday visit.
The decision came shortly after CNN journalists, along with reporters from MS NOW and Politico, returned to the White House grounds with television cameras after a federal judge temporarily blocked the administration’s ban on the three organizations.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly’s ruling addressed the media outlets’ access credentials for the White House grounds but did not specifically address assignments to the White House press pool or access to Air Force One. Attorneys representing the news organizations have argued that the ruling should extend to pool access as well.
The White House press pool resumed operations Friday after the other participating outlets had previously declined to provide pool coverage when CNN, MS NOW and Politico were barred from the White House.
The rotating video pool consists of five major television networks that share footage of the president with other media organizations. FOX, CBS, ABC and NBC continued participating after CNN was excluded from the White House grounds, but the pool was temporarily suspended when those outlets declined to take part without CNN.
Real America’s Voice is not a member of the network video pool. CNN had been scheduled for a pool assignment at the National Archives during Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and the White House had approved the network’s credentials for the event.
The latest dispute follows other conflicts between the Trump administration and news organizations over access to presidential events. The administration previously restricted Associated Press reporters from White House events over the news organization's handling of Trump's directive to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. That dispute remains under appeal.
The White House press pool was established decades ago to ensure journalists from different organizations could rotate responsibility for traveling with the president. Pool members provide video, photographs and firsthand coverage to the broader news media.
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