#new Fast Fact: Joe Biden's White House purged 442 reporters from the WH in 2023; The media was silent, in fact, most people didn't even know it happened.
— Christina Aguayo (@ChristinaNewstv) September 19, 2026
The same previously silent media is now calling it a constitutional crisis that President Donald Trump is banning CNN, MS… pic.twitter.com/5eI9U9ZqOY
Fast Fact: Joe Biden's White House purged 442 reporters from the WH in 2023; The media was silent, in fact, most people didn't even know it happened.
The same previously silent media is now calling it a constitutional crisis that President Donald Trump is banning CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House for repeatedly reporting false news.
Trump made the announcement saying those outlets constantly publish “fake news.”
Today Secret Service agents deactivated and confiscated badges from the three outlets - who then called the move an illegal assault on the First Amendment and said they would fight it in court.However, those three outlets said absolutely nothing when Biden axed 442 reporters from the White House.
In May 2023, the Biden White House Press Office emailed pass holders that all existing credentials would expire July 31. Reporters then had to reapply and adhere to new rules. 442 reporters got cut with the White House saying it had the power to deny passes for conduct it judged as unprofessional.
In early August 2023: hard passes fell from 1,417 to 975 which is 442 fewer. That is a 31% drop.
The Trump administration restored the press passes of the 442 journalists whose passes were revoked by Biden.
Republicans say the liberal outrage is selective. When 3 outlets who routinely post false news stories lose their passes, networks treat it as an emergency.
When hundreds of hard passes were axed under Biden - including at conservative and independent shops that can't get a second gallery credential - the same liberal outlets shrug.
WHCA leadership that later called Trump’s pool changes an attack on a free press had almost nothing to say in 2023.
White House access has always been a security-controlled privilege, not a constitutional right for any network, and the fact that hundreds still have access show the move is not restricting freedom of the press.
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