White House Removes CNN From Thursday Pool Trip for Second Time in a Week
The White House removed CNN as the lead television pool crew for President Donald Trump’s Thursday trip to Texas and Oklahoma, the second such removal in a week. The Guardian
What changed on Thursday
The change was posted Wednesday night. It reversed a Sunday pool list that named CNN as Thursday’s in-town pooler and Real America’s Voice as secondary pooler. After the change, Real America’s Voice was the only pooler left.
The pool is a rotation where one crew films and shares picture and sound with all outlets, like taking turns with a shared camera. For Thursday, there will be no primary pool footage. None of the other four primary television networks will replace CNN, leaving the slot empty. CNN had been scheduled to fly aboard Air Force One. NBC News
That followed an exclusion Saturday, when CNN was kept off pool duty aboard Air Force One. It came two days after a district judge ruled against the White House ban on CNN and two other organizations. The White House first banned CNN on Sept. 18.
What happens in court next
That ban is now in court. On Sept. 24, a federal judge ordered the White House to restore access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico. Reuters Lawyers for the three outlets asked earlier this week to extend that order by 14 days. The judge will hold a hearing on a preliminary injunction, an order that would block the ban while their Sept. 21 lawsuit against the White House plays out.
A White House official called television networks “performative and dishonest.” After the earlier removal, no shared video was available. Even C-SPAN did not show Trump’s 1:45 p.m. event that day.
The broader context here is control of rotation and substitution. One crew normally gathers pictures and sound for all. When the assigned crew is removed and others decline to substitute, only secondary cameras remain. For Thursday, that leaves one accredited secondary and no primary feed.
Looking at what this means for the courts and the press corps, the question is now about daily assignments after a court order restoring access, not only credentials in general. An extension would preserve the status quo. An injunction would freeze the ban through trial. Denial would return rotation decisions to the White House press office. So far, other networks have declined to fill a vacancy created by removal rather than scheduling.
