In what can only be categorized as a shocking turn of events, President Trump’s personal Speak & Spell news station, Fox News, which is basically a megaphone for all of the White House’s racists dog whistles, has joined several media outlets announcing they back CNN’s lawsuit against the Trump administration. (Of course, not too long ago, CNN and other outlets backed Fox News against the Obama administration.)
According to The Hill, “Fox News President Jay Wallace said in a statement that the network intends to file an amicus brief with a U.S. District Court in the lawsuit.”
CNN filed a lawsuit against the White House on Tuesday after the administration announced that they were removing correspondent Jim Acosta’s press credentials after he asked the president a question that didn’t start with, “So you know how much I love you, right?”
“Fox News supports CNN in its legal effort to regain its White House reporter’s press credential. We intend to file an amicus brief with the U.S. District Court. Secret Service passes for working White House journalists should never be weaponized,” Wallace said.
“While we don’t condone the growing antagonistic tone by both the President and the press at recent media avails, we do support a free press, access and open exchanges for the American people.”
The Hill notes that other news outlets backing the lawsuit include: NBC News, The Associated Press, Bloomberg, Gannett, The New York Times, Politico, USA Today, and The Washington Post.
“Whether the news of the day concerns national security, the economy, or the environment, reporters covering the White House must remain free to ask questions,” the news outlets said in a joint statement.
“It is imperative that independent journalists have access to the President and his activities, and that journalists are not barred for arbitrary reasons. Our news organizations support the fundamental constitutional right to question this president, or any president.”
The president isn’t backing down. In a court filing by the Justice Department, the White House contends they can do whatever they want.
“The president and White House possess the same broad discretion to regulate access to the White House for journalists (and other members of the public) that they possess to select which journalists receive interviews, or which journalists they acknowledge at press conferences,” lawyers say in the filing, CNN reports.
CNN alleges in its lawsuit its First and Fifth Amendment rights are being violated by the ban. CNN is asking Judge Timothy J. Kelly, a Trump appointee, to lift the restraining and allow Acosta access right away.
White House press secretary and the Devil’s Mouthpiece Sarah Huckabee Sanders claims the lawsuit is nothing more than “grandstanding” by the network and added that Acosta “is no more or less special than any other media outlet or reporter with respect to the First Amendment.”
“After Mr. Acosta asked the president two questions — each of which the president answered — he physically refused to surrender the White House microphone to an intern, so that other reporters might ask their questions,” Sanders said in a statement Tuesday.
Sanders also lies a lot. So there’s that.