EVEN HIM

Trumpy Anchor Corners Top Goon on President’s Deranged Media Ban

Even MAGA-friendly types have reservations about Donald Trump’s media ban.

A Trumpy news host has turned the heat up on one of the president’s top lackeys.

President Donald Trump, 80, dropped jaws with his shocking decision to ban MS Now, CNN, and Politico from the White House on Friday.

The move was so striking that even CNBC’s Squawkbox host Joe Kernen—whose commentary is often regarded as conservative and sympathetic to the Trump administration—was scathing about it during a Monday conversation with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

POLITIC-OH

Trump’s Multi-Million-Dollar Media Ban Hypocrisy Exposed

Harry Thompson

At the end of the chat, Kernen asked Bessent about his views on the ban—which includes his network’s sister station, formerly known as MSNBC—and offered some of his own views too.

“One of the things that sets the United States apart, I think, is that our leaders have to answer difficult questions, sometimes even hostile questions,” Kernen said. “And we see the alternative, and it’s a badge of honor. I watch you answer hostile questions, and I think that’s when you’re in your element. How is this going to play out with this ban? And what do you think of it?”

Bessent said he hadn’t been in the Oval Office and knew little about the situation, but claimed that “the equilibrium is so far out of kilter” because of his perceived media bias.

He said “The American people deserve good reporting. I couldn’t agree more,” before Kernen cut back in to take a clear-cut stance.

“All the different presidents, and I will grant you that I think maybe Republican presidents historically have had maybe a tougher time with mainstream media, but you’ve got Fox News that has been all over Democratic presidents,” he said. “I just don’t think this is something that will last in this country. We don’t do this in this country.”

He later added that “I know you have said that you’re here for policy. You don’t want any palace drama. And you’ve called ‘swamp creatures.’ And I understand all that,” he said. “But that’s the way. You can’t control the press, right? The press is going to press, media is going to media.”

The ban is the latest chapter in Trump’s bitter relationship with the media, but it marks a notable escalation that raises concerns about freedom of speech.

In a Truth Social post Friday, Trump said: “I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW (who recently changed their name from MSNBC due to lack of viewership and credibility!), and Politico (The recipients of an illegal and ridiculous $8 Million Dollar subscription, an All Time Record, directly from the United States Government, under Crooked Joe Biden, in order to keep them ‘alive.’ Seems like corruption to me!), from the White House as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!’”

The news outlets sued on Monday, writing a joint letter saying they had filed a lawsuit to “protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes.”

Trump followed with a new statement of his own, writing on Truth Social on Monday: “The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America. It is corrupt, purposeful, pervasive, fully coordinated, and totally out of control. It is a threat to our National Security, and must be stopped, NOW! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

“The Fake News has no place demanding a spot in the President’s Oval Office,” an administration official told the Daily Beast. “The lies they smear are a disservice to the American public and tear at the very fabric of our Democracy. They’re completely capable of reporting from directly outside.”

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Harry ThompsonNews Reporter

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