Shortly after CNN filed a lawsuit, demanding to restore the pass to its correspondent Jim Acosta at the White house and recognize the actions of the administration to trump unconstitutional, the President commented on the incident, stating that he has «all the powers» to regulate and limit the access of journalists.
«The President and his administration have the authority to restrict the access of journalists (and other members of the public) in the White house — just as you have the right to choose which journalists will be able to interview or ask questions at press conferences», — they said in the official response to the lawsuit, adding that «none of the reporter is not enshrined in the First amendment right to enter the White house.»
What happened
Pass by Jim Acosta withdrew last week after he was entered with a trump in a fierce debate — including about the caravan of migrants and investigation of the Russian intervention in elections in one of the press conferences. The President refused to answer one of the questions, and the employee of the White house has tried to take Acosta’s microphone, and then trump called the reporter «a horrible, rude person».
We stand by our decision to revoke this individual»s hard pass. We will not tolerate the inappropriate behavior is clearly documented in this video. pic.twitter.com/T8X1Ng912y
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) November 8, 2018
In an official statement, press Secretary Sarah Sanders reported that Acosta pushed away the girl when she wanted to take the microphone, and released a video allegedly depicting it. According to experts and some media reports, the movie was previously edited.
The Intern’s reach for the mic is slowed down, and the «chop» motion is accelerated. Here’s an annotated side by side comparison: pic.twitter.com/wLCG5GVdo1
— Aymann Ismail (@aymanndotcom) November 8, 2018
According to the lawsuit, addressed to, among others John Kelly, Sarah Sanders and directly to the President — withdrawal of admission violates the rights of Acosta and CNN, enshrined in the First and Fifth amendments. The TV channel expects that the court will take measures that will not allow the incident to be repeated with other reporters and publications in the future.
What do people think?
The claim is already supported by thirteen news channels and publications. The list includes:
- AP
- Fox News
- Bloomberg
- First Look Media
- Gannett
- National Press Club
- NBC News
- New York Times
- POLITICO
- The Press Freedom Defense Fund
- EW Scripps
- USA Today Network
- Washington Post
Under the First amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the government cannot:
- to support any religion or to claim it as state
- prohibit freedom of religion
- to restrict freedom of speech, press and Assembly
- to restrict the right to appeal to the government of the United States petitions
