Fox News's John Roberts predicts the exclusion will last "about a half a heartbeat", as Obama's 2009 attempt did
Co-anchor of Fox News Channel's America Reports, in a post on his own X account
“Obama tried to exclude Fox from certain White House access back in 2009. Lasted about a half a heartbeat. I expect this one will too.”
Source and context
Original post
About this source
Post read verbatim through the fxtwitter API (created 22:37:25 UTC on September 18, 2026). The post is a quote-post: the first three sentences are Roberts's own and the remaining text is the quoted post by Jacqui Heinrich (https://x.com/JacquiHeinrich/status/2101076038176342376) reproducing the WHCA statement.
Reporting
About this source
Mediaite roundup of Fox News figures' reactions on X, published the evening of September 18, 2026 (7:21 PM EDT) and read in full; it reproduces the posts by Turley, Hume, Fleischer, Benson and Roberts.
Before the quotation
Roberts posted at 6:37 PM EDT on September 18. The post quote-posts an X post by Jacqui Heinrich, president of the White House Correspondents' Association, reproducing the association's statement.
After the quotation
Mediaite's roundup of Fox News figures' reactions that evening also carried posts by Fox News analyst Guy Benson, chief political analyst Brit Hume and contributors Jonathan Turley and Ari Fleischer criticizing the exclusion.
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 on September 18, 2026 that CNN, MS NOW and Politico are banned from the White House because of their coverage, as reaffirmed in the Oval Office that afternoon. Roberts predicts the exclusion will be short-lived, drawing on the 2009 Obama-Fox episode, which downplays its durability and significance without endorsing or denouncing it. The closest competing label is condemns, because he shares a statement criticizing the exclusion. That loses because the words that are Roberts's own express no criticism of the act; the criticism is the quoted WHCA text.
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- People and groups discussed
- CNN, MS NOW, Politico
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