The newly minted MAGA-approved TV pool appears to have inadvertently made itself a security risk for the president.
The pro-Trump outlet Real America’s Voice became the primary television crew traveling with President Donald Trump to the United Nations General Assembly this week after he banned CNN, which was scheduled to provide a pool feed from New York on Monday, from the White House.
Real America’s Voice, now tasked with providing footage to media partners, shared footage from inside Trump’s motorcade as he was driven off of the UN campus and out of New York.
The video was hailed by online MAGA flacks, including Nick Sortor, who said he was grateful to Real America’s Voice for “showing us RAW footage of how difficult it is to keep President Trump safe.” In reality, they may have breached an all-important protocol.
Former White House Correspondents’ Association President Weijia Jiang of CBS News poured cold water on the apparent access the public was getting.
“For decades, the [WHCA] has advised poolers not to air video of taillights because it’s a potential risk to the security of the motorcade,” she said.
Several big-name journalists endorsed her post, including ABC’s Jonathan Karl, CNN’s Brian Stelter, and Face the Nation host Margaret Breman, among others.
Former WHCA President Kelly O’Donnell of NBC News echoed the sentiment, posting that the association has “long provided specific guidance from the Secret Service and various administrations on matters where video material should not be used at all or with limitations for security reasons.”
Each presidential motorcade features at least two identical Cadillac limousines, each displaying the presidential seal and American flags, which is intended to make it impossible for the average spectator to know which vehicle is carrying the president.
By filming inside, Real America’s Voice could have revealed exactly which vehicle was carrying the president.
Their footage from inside the motorcade shows the New York Police Department escorting the presidential motorcade out of the UN campus and onto a New York City highway.
With Trump’s ban on CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, the other networks responsible for TV pool duty—ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox—have said they will stand in solidarity with their media colleagues and not honor their scheduled pool coverage.
That means pool coverage has fallen to MAGA media outlets like Real America’s Voice and Lindell TV, which is owned by the 2020 election denier Mike Lindell.
Performance One Media, a Colorado-based media company run by Robert Sigg, owns Real America’s Voice.
Sigg appears to be a more unsavory character, as he has gotten in trouble with the law for domestic violence, burglary, drug distribution, driving under the influence, and assault, charges that were later dropped.
He also has a white-collar crime track record, having pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud stemming from his role in a $19 million mortgage-fraud scheme.
In 2013, his son, Austin, was sentenced to life in prison at age 17 in 2013 for kidnapping and murdering 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway.
Sigg’s outlet is best-known for airing Steve Bannon’s War Room show.
The same day the major networks announced they were standing with CNN in solidarity, the White House tried to fight back by launching what it called “TRUMP TV,” which airs round the clock. It has tried to sell the programming as giving people the ability to “watch the Trump Administration’s biggest moments all in one place.” But there appears to be little interest in the new venture, as live viewership has been as low as 500 people on YouTube.
