Guy Benson
Role at the time: Fox News political analyst and host of The Guy Benson Show, in a post on his own X account
Statement summary
In an X post, Fox News political analyst Guy Benson wrote that the White House media ban, even for those who dislike the targeted outlets, is a bad idea and bad precedent, that it is what Trump does when he feels things are not going well politically, and that beyond his loyalist base it achieves nothing and is exhausting.
“The WH media ban, even if you hate the targeted outlets, is a bad idea & bad precedent. It’s the sort of thing he does when he doesn’t feel like things are going well politically. Beyond his hardcore loyalist base, it achieves nothing and is exhausting.”
Why we used this label
Benson criticizes the exclusion as a bad idea and bad precedent, even as he grants that some dislike the outlets. The closest competing label is minimizes, because he says it "achieves nothing". That loses because he opens by calling the act a bad idea and bad precedent, which is criticism of the conduct itself rather than downplaying it.