If anyone needs to hear this, it’s the left: not everything President Donald Trump does is a constitutional crisis. You don’t have to like or agree with everything he does. Plenty of things he does you can legitimately oppose. Disagreement will always happen. But lately, the media and Democrats in Washington have elevated everything Trump says or does as a constitutional crisis. Democrats want to impeach Trump for building a White House ballroom, for crying out loud.
Trump announced last week that CNN, MS NOW, and Politico were losing their White House credentials for what he described as a pattern of habitually false reporting about Trump and his administration. White House correspondents for CNN and MS NOW showed up anyway Saturday morning, apparently convinced the ban couldn't possibly be real. White House security turned them away at the gate.
CNN issued a statement hours after the announcement. "We have a right under the U.S. Constitution to do our reporting without hindrance or interference from the government and this ban is an illegal assault on this fundamental right," the network said.
MS NOW, for its part, insisted in its own statement that the West Wing isn't Trump's to gatekeep. "The White House belongs to the American people and the decisions made inside are funded by our tax dollars," the network said. It added, "MS NOW intends to take any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights and the essential role of independent journalism in our democracy."
At this point, we’ve heard “constitutional crisis” and “our democracy” so many times you almost barely notice anymore, because each time these buzz phrases are uttered, they’re completely bullcrap. And yet the media constantly doubles down on this idea that our nation is on the brink of collapsing anytime Trump does something they don’t like. Asked Friday how banning the outlets squared with the First Amendment, a reporter put the question to both Trump and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-Ark.), who was in the Oval Office with him.
Sanders nailed her response to the question.
"I think it's hard for you to argue against a free press when you're literally standing in the Oval Office asking questions of the president of the United States," she said. "He's been more accessible and easier to talk to than any president in history. Think about the previous administration, where you could barely get through a press conference. And yet you have the opportunity to stand here in the Oval Office and ask questions to the leader of the free world."
Former WH Press Sec Sarah Huckabee Sanders SHUTS DOWNS reporters crying about Trump banning CNN, MS Now and Politico from the White House
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 18, 2026
“I think it’s hard for you to argue against a free press when you’re literally standing in the Oval Office asking questions of the president… pic.twitter.com/xg3gF1QTlR
Exactly.
The double standard here is impossible to deny. In 2023, more than 440 reporters lost their permanent press credentials after President Joe Biden's White House rewrote the eligibility rules. Barack Obama tried to exclude Fox News from a 2009 pool interview with pay czar Ken Feinberg, and his administration later monitored reporters' phone records and threatened journalists over unfavorable coverage. No one accused either man of gutting the Constitution for it. Heck, the media just loved Obama and showered him with positive coverage, and the media spent years denying that Joe Biden was a walking vegetable.
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But the double standard, as glaring as it is, sits outside the legal question. The First Amendment gives the press broad protection to publish, criticize the president, investigate government, and report whatever it chooses. It doesn't hand every journalist the right to access the White House grounds, a seat in the briefing room, a spot in the press pool, or an invitation to limited-access presidential events.
The Constitution protects a media outlet's right to report. It does not create a constitutional entitlement to privileged access to the president.
CNN, MS NOW, and Politico didn't lose their access for criticizing Trump. Outlets that hammer this administration daily still walk through those gates every day. They lost it, the White House says, over a documented pattern of inaccurate reporting; it's no longer willing to legitimize them with a press badge, the same kind of access Biden's White House stripped from more than 440 reporters in 2023 without the media treating it like our democracy was hanging by a thread. Whether Friday's call was the right one is a fair debate, and, as I’ve said before, the optics aren’t great. But this isn’t a First Amendment issue.
