John Roberts
Role at the time: Co-anchor of Fox News Channel's America Reports, in a post on his own X account
Statement summary
In an X post that quote-posts a post by White House Correspondents' Association president Jacqui Heinrich reproducing the association's statement, Fox News co-anchor John Roberts wrote that the Obama administration tried to exclude Fox from certain White House access in 2009, that it "lasted about a half a heartbeat", and that he expects this exclusion will too.
“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.”
Why we used this label
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.