President Donald Trump defended his decision to ban CNN, MS Now and Politico from the White House, warning that more outlets could join them. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.
The remarks came during an event in the Oval Office to promote changes he says he is making to the US healthcare system, including pressing for lower drug prices and reducing vaccine doses for children.
When reminded by one correspondent that every president takes an oath to uphold the constitution, including the First Amendment right to free speech, Trump said, "you get so tired of reading and seeing fake news."
"There may be others to join them," Trump warned, before hinting that the New York Times and the Washington Post are on his list.
When another reporter reminded Trump that he had lost in court in 2018 when he tried to ban CNN's Jim Acosta from the White House, Trump tried to rewrite history by claiming that "we didn't have to take it too far because the reporter that you're talking about discredited himself." In fact, after a judge ordered the White House to restore Acosta's access, the first Trump administration relented immediately.
"I don't think that a court should allow fake news to be written day after day after day," Trump went on. "I think that somebody has a right to keep them away if they're going to write false stories all the time," he insisted, apparently failing to understand a fundamental part of the US constitution.
Trump then went on to reveal that what he is mainly upset about is the tenor of coverage of him not being positive enough from non-partisan media outlets, while praising partisan, rightwing outlets.
"I get I don't get fair press. I get it from Breitbart. I get it from a little bit from Fox," Trump said. "But what I do ask is just a semblance of truth."