Jonathan Turley says "barring disfavored media from the White House is a terrible precedent and practice"
Law professor at George Washington University Law School and Fox News contributor, on his personal X account
“barring disfavored media from the White House is a terrible precedent and practice”
Source and context
Original post
About this source
Turley's own long-form post (about 52 words) on his X account (id 94784682, verified badge). Read in full through https://api.fxtwitter.com/JonathanTurley/status/2101041961499058481. X's syndication endpoint confirms the author, timestamp and the opening of the post but truncates it after 'from the White', so the tail of the excerpt rests on the fxtwitter read of the full post text. The post's first sentence says Trump had just reaffirmed his intention to ban CNN, Politico and MS NOW from the White House, and its second sentence calls such a move an assault on free-press principles.
Original post
About this source
Continuation of the same thread, posted as a reply to the first post. Read through https://api.fxtwitter.com/JonathanTurley/status/2101042649310351568 and confirmed in full through X's syndication endpoint. It adds that the move would undermine the United States' position as an advocate for press rights abroad.
Reporting
About this source
Roundup of Fox News figures' reactions published Sept. 18, 2026 at 7:21 PM ET. It quotes only part of Turley's first post and identifies him as a Fox News contributor; the verb it uses for his criticism is the outlet's characterization and is not adopted here. Opened directly (HTTP 200).
Reporting
About this source
Used for context only: it reports that Trump wrote on Truth Social around 3 p.m. Eastern, defended the announcement in the Oval Office about an hour later, that there was no indication his administration had taken steps to follow through, that CNN reporters remained in their White House workspace into Friday evening, and that the White House Press Office referred questions to those remarks. It does not record any statement by Fleischer, Turley or Hume.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Around 3 p.m. EDT on September 18, 2026, President Trump said on Truth Social that he was "banning" CNN, MS NOW and Politico "from the White House" over their coverage, and about an hour later he defended the announcement in Oval Office remarks. Turley's thread began at 4:13 p.m. EDT, saying Trump had just reaffirmed that intention.
After the quotation
Turley added a second post about three minutes later saying such a move would raise serious constitutional questions, and Brit Hume quote-posted the first post with a comment of agreement. In an article updated at 10:12 p.m. EDT, CNN reported there was no indication the administration had taken steps to follow through and that the White House Press Office had referred questions to Trump's Oval Office remarks.
How this statement is classified
Case context: Should President Trump bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House over their coverage?
The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.
Why this label?
The case's fixed reference point is President Trump's announcement, by Truth Social post and again in the Oval Office on September 18, 2026, that CNN, MS NOW and Politico are banned from the White House because of their coverage, that is, excluding named news organizations from White House access over what they report. Turley, reacting to Trump's reaffirmation of the announcement, writes that "barring disfavored media from the White House is a terrible precedent and practice," and in the same thread that such a move would be an assault on free-press principles and would raise serious constitutional questions, which criticizes the exclusion itself on principle and on legal grounds. The closest competing label is mixed_or_conditional, because he says he has often joined criticism of the outlets' bias and uses conditional phrasing ("would") for the announced move. That loses because the bias remark concerns coverage, which is outside the reference point, and his evaluation of the exclusion does not depend on its scope or on any unresolved condition.
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- Donald Trump
Should President Trump bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House over their coverage?
Explore the case context, sources and public responses.
More from this case
Read the full caseMS NOW
“MS NOW intends to take any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights and the essential role of independent journalism in our democracy.”Read statement
The White House
“The White House declined to comment further Saturday, referring NBC News to Trump’s previous comments.”Read statement
Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
“When the White House opens its doors to the press, it must comply with the First Amendment. The president is as free as any other person to criticize media coverage. But he can’t ban outlets from the White House just because he doesn’t like their reporting or commentary.”Read statement