Jonathan Turley says "barring disfavored media from the White House is a terrible precedent and practice"
Jonathan TurleyLaw professor at George Washington University Law School and Fox News contributor, on his personal X account
Fox News contributor and law professor Jonathan Turley wrote in an X thread, reacting to Trump's reaffirmation of his intention to exclude CNN, Politico and MS NOW from the White House, that he has often joined criticism of the outlets' bias but considers barring disfavored media a terrible precedent and practice. He said such a move would be an attack on long-standing free-press principles and, in a second post, that it would raise serious constitutional questions.
“barring disfavored media from the White House is a terrible precedent and practice”
Original post
Original post
Reporting
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Should President Trump bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House over their coverage?
On Friday, September 18, 2026, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that, "effective immediately, I am banning" CNN, MS NOW and Politico "from the White House as a result of their constant 'reporting' FAKE NEWS!" About an hour later, in the Oval Office, he said no particular story prompted the decision, that he does not want the outlets "in my office," and that "somebody has a right to keep them away" if outlets write false stories. The three outlets and press-freedom groups oppose the exclusion, citing constitutional protection for the press, and the White House Correspondents' Association said it "stands in defense of our colleagues at CNN, MSNOW, and POLITICO." On Saturday, September 19, MS NOW, CNN and Politico said their White House reporters were refused entry and had press passes confiscated; the White House referred questions to Trump's earlier remarks. The dispute is over whether President Trump should exclude named news organizations from White House access over what they report.
Source and context
Original post
About this source
Turley's own long-form post (about 52 words) on his X account (verified badge). X's own copy shows the post only up to "from the White"; the rest of the excerpt comes from a third-party copy of the full post. 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. 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.
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
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
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 conduct under scrutiny, and his evaluation of the exclusion does not depend on its scope or on any unresolved condition.
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The Dispute Index. "Jonathan Turley says "barring disfavored media from the White House is a terrible precedent and practice"". First published: 2026-09-19. Last updated: 2026-09-22. https://disputeindex.com/events/1122-fox-news-contributor-and-law-professor-jonathan-turley