NEVER BACK DOWN

CNN Boss Vows Free Speech Fight After Judge Savages Trump

The head of CNN appeared on the network, pledging to fight for the First Amendment.

CNN’s chairman and editor-in-chief Mark Thompson made a rare appearance on the network on Wednesday, where he vowed never to back down in the fight over the First Amendment after Donald Trump tried to block the outlet and two others from the White House.

Thompson’s interview came after a federal judge delivered another blow to the Trump administration this week in the legal battle over the president’s attempts to ban CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White House grounds last month.

In a 26-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, appointed by Trump in 2017, ruled that the White House must allow the three news organizations full access as the case proceeds.

“It’s not the end of the matter,” Thompson noted on Wednesday, reacting to the judge’s order. He warned that they must “always be prepared to fight and go on fighting.”

“This topic is one we’re never going to back down from, and no matter how many court cases, investigations, court appearances and all the expense that that entails, we will fight this one to the end,” Thompson vowed.

In the opinion, Kelly also found that the news organizations are likely to succeed in their claims that the ban violated the First Amendment and due process.

Thompson called it a “big boost” and a “vote of confidence in free speech” as the fight continues.

“This goes beyond politics, goes beyond ideology or different perspectives,” Thompson said of the case and how news organizations have banded together to back the lawsuit.

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“We support each other because we know that this could be something that happens with government of the left, governments of the right, governments of the center,” he said. “On these occasions, the press has to stand together to defend our rights on behalf of the public.”

While he currently leads CNN, Thompson is also the former president and CEO of The New York Times Company and Director-General of the BBC.

He argued that the press needs to stay constantly vigilant to protect First Amendment rights.

“There’s always a risk that a government of any political hue, particularly when they’re under some political pressure, they just lose their patience,” Thompson said.

“Unfortunately, when that happens, fundamental rights begin to get pushed away, and we know there’s a road there, if governments are allowed to go down is very dangerous- dangerous not just for the press, but for democracy and a free society,” he continued.

Kelly’s opinion comes after his preliminary order directed the administration to temporarily give the organizations access for two weeks.

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It stems from Trump’s September 18 announcement of the ban on Truth Social. In the days immediately after, White House security began pulling journalists’ hard passes as they arrived for work, prompting the organizations to sue.

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