New Delhi: Thirteen American media outlets, including Fox News and The Washington Post, have come to the defence of CNN in its lawsuit against the Donald Trump administration for revoking the pass of chief White House reporter Jim Acosta.
Fox News has often earned praise from Trump and has a long rivalry with CNN. However, in a statement released by its president Jay Wallace warned against the ‘weaponisation’ of press credentials. “Fox News supports CNN in its legal effort to regain its White House reporter’s press credential,” Wallace said.
Also Read: CNN White House Correspondent’s Credentials Suspended After Verbal Clash With Trump
The thirteen media outlets will file a friend-of-the-court brief to support CNN and Acosta, whose credentials were revoked after he had a heated exchange with Trump during a press conference shortly after the mid-term election results were announced.
On Wednesday morning, the organisations that supported CNN also included The Associated Press, Bloomberg, First Look Media, Gannett, NBC News, The New York Times, Politico, USA Today, the National Press Club Journalism Institute, the Press Freedom Defense Fund and the E.W. Scripps Company.
“Whether the news of the day concerns national security, the economy, or the environment, reporters covering the White House must remain free to ask questions. It is imperative that independent journalists have access to the President and his activities, and that journalists are not barred for arbitrary reasons,” the outlets said in a statement. “Our news organizations support the fundamental constitutional right to question this President, or any President. We will be filing friend-of-the-court briefs to support CNN’s and Jim Acosta’s lawsuit based on these principles.”
CNN correspondent Jim Acosta questions US President Donald Trump with NBC correspondent Peter Alexander at his side as a White House intern kneels back down in front of them after she tried to take away the microphone held by Acosta during a news conference at the White House in Washington, US, November 7, 2018. Credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst
According to the CNN, additional news outlets including CBS, Buzzfeed and The Wall Street Journal, are likely to join the 13 outlets.
The Fox News president issued a statement in which he added, “While we don’t condone the growing antagonistic tone by both the president and the press at recent media avails, we do support a free press, access and open exchanges for the American people.”
Case heard on Wednesday evening
The lawsuit filed by CNN was heard on Wednesday evening and the judge said he would rule on it Thursday.
Trump’s press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had said that Acosta’s pass was revoked because he touched a female staff member ‘inappropriately’. However, in court, justice department attorney James Burnham said he did not know who made the call to revoke the credentials.
Also Read: CNN Sues White House Over Suspension of Correspondent’s Credentials
According to the Washington Post, Burnham argued that Trump could exclude any reporter from the White House’s grounds. He drew a comparison with the president’s right to exclude reporters from interviews in the Oval Office or to ignore their questions during news conferences.
In response, CNN’s lawyer Ted Boutrous said the government had “a warped view” of journalism and due process. “The government’s now taking the position that [the president] can do anything he wants,” he said.