Christopher Rufo calls Trump’s exclusion of CNN, MS NOW and Politico “a mistake on all fronts”
Christopher RufoSenior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a guest panelist on Overtime with Bill Maher
Asked on Overtime with Bill Maher what the panel thought of Trump banning CNN, Politico and MS NOW from the White House, Christopher Rufo said the ban is a mistake in the same way it was a mistake for Robert Kraft to ban Macklemore, because it gives opponents “an easy win”: they can say they stand for free speech and good journalism. He called it “a mistake strategically” and “on the substance,” said the president’s best moments are “oftentimes in combat with people from the left-wing media,” and said that “hunkering down, remaining in the echo chamber, it’s a mistake on all fronts.”
“This is a mistake in the same way it was a mistake for Robert Kraft to ban Macklemore. You’re giving your opponents an easy win. They can say, we stand for free speech, good journalism.” … “I think it’s a mistake strategically, but it’s also a mistake on the substance. The president’s best moments are oftentimes in combat with people from the left-wing media. And so, as conservatives, we don’t have the benefit of having the mainstream media on our side. We have to be smart in how we do combat with the left-wing media if we want to have our message break through. And so, hunkering down, remaining in the echo chamber, it’s a mistake on all fronts.”
Original video
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 video
About this source
Official Real Time with Bill Maher upload of Overtime, the post-show panel conversation that follows the September 18, 2026 episode, published on the show’s YouTube channel at 11:00 p.m. EDT on September 18, 2026 (03:00 UTC on September 19). The passage is Christopher Rufo’s answer to a question about Trump’s announced exclusion of CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House; Jessica Tarlov’s reply begins at 01:51. An on-screen caption identifies Christopher Rufo (“Sr. Fellow, The Manhattan Institute”) while he speaks, and he is on camera throughout the passage.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Host Bill Maher introduced the question as one of “the questions from the people.” Before Rufo spoke, the discussion included a recollection that the White House had first excluded the Associated Press because “they wouldn’t call it Gulf of America.”
After the quotation
Jessica Tarlov, a co-host of Fox News’s The Five, replied that conservatives are not “the media victims” because Fox draws “many more millions of viewers on a per hour basis” than CNN or MS NOW combined, and that “the biggest podcasts are conservatives.” The exchange then turned to which side has more cultural clout.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Rufo, speaking as a conservative, calls the exclusion “a mistake strategically” and “on the substance,” says it hands opponents “an easy win,” and concludes that “hunkering down, remaining in the echo chamber, it’s a mistake on all fronts.” That criticizes the exclusion itself. The closest competing label is “Mixed or conditional”, because part of his objection is strategic and he says the president’s best moments often come in combat with left-wing media; it loses because he also calls the ban a mistake “on the substance” and does not defend it in this exchange.
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The Dispute Index. "Christopher Rufo calls Trump’s exclusion of CNN, MS NOW and Politico “a mistake on all fronts”". First published: 2026-09-20. Last updated: 2026-09-22. https://disputeindex.com/events/1267-asked-on-overtime-with-bill-maher-what-the