BS BULLETIN:
- Brian Stelter is blasting President Trump’s decision to bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House.
- An old CNN segment has resurfaced showing Stelter asking whether Fox News deserved White House press-pool privileges.
- CNN reporter Betsy Klein had her White House credential deactivated Saturday as Trump’s directive took effect.
Brian Stelter has discovered a very firm principle about keeping news organizations inside the White House — and the internet has receipts from when the question involved Fox News.
The CNN chief media analyst blasted President Donald Trump’s decision to bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, calling the move “a direct threat to press freedom in the United States.”
“It’s so much bigger than CNN,” Stelter said Saturday. “This is a free speech test in America.”
🚨 LMFAO! CNN has just been BLOCKED from entering the White House — and their reporter is MELTING DOWN live
Press pass SEIZED. Now she’s on the sidewalk!
“I put my stuff through security, then I tap my badge…Cameras WATCHED me walk in…and it BEEPS, turns RED! It didn’t… pic.twitter.com/tf23NcXypA
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 19, 2026
CNN senior White House reporter Betsy Klein said her credential had been deactivated Saturday, while MS NOW correspondent Akayla Gardner was also turned away and told to surrender her badge. Politico reporter Cheyenne Haslett was similarly denied entry.
But Stelter’s response has revived a CNN segment from March 2021 that sounds considerably different today.
Well look at this.
March, 2021. CNN’s Brian Stelter does a segment on if President Biden should remove Fox News from the White House Press Pool.
Censorship for thee, just not for me. pic.twitter.com/cs56eS87EC
— MAZE (@mazemoore) September 19, 2026
During the Biden administration, Stelter hosted a discussion about Fox News and its place in the White House press corps.
“Should it be a part of the White House press pool?” Stelter asked during the segment, before questioning whether Fox should be afforded the privileges that come with news gathering.
The resurfaced clip prompted critics to accuse Stelter and other journalists of suddenly discovering a principle they were willing to debate when the network in question was Fox News.
Fox News defended CNN when the Trump White House revoked CNN correspondent Jim Acosta’s credential in 2018. Fox News President Jay Wallace said at the time that Secret Service passes for working White House journalists “should never be weaponized,” and Fox joined other news organizations supporting CNN’s legal fight.
Trump announced Friday that CNN, MS NOW and Politico were banned from the White House, accusing the organizations of repeatedly reporting what he called “FAKE NEWS.”
The outlets have condemned the decision and argued that excluding journalists because of their coverage violates constitutional press protections.
The White House Correspondents’ Association also objected. Its president, Fox News correspondent Jacqui Heinrich, said First Amendment protections do not depend on whether a president approves of an outlet’s reporting or questions.
Meanwhile, Stelter’s old question about Fox is making another trip around the internet. Sometimes the internet has a very long memory.
Oh, Brian. Nothing ages quite like a media lecture preserved forever on video.
DBS WIRE SOURCES:
- Twitchy — Remember when Brian Stelter asked if Fox News should lose WH access?
- Washington Post — CNN, MS NOW and Politico journalists blocked from White House
- CNN — Stelter reports Trump is banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico
- Axios — Trump says he’s banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico
