'Agree with the diagnosis, not the cure': John Kennedy breaks with Trump over media ban

WASHINGTON, DC: Republican Senator John Kennedy said he disagrees with President Donald Trump’s decision to ban three news outlets from the White House, despite sharing his concerns about increasingly partisan media.

Kennedy argued that the president should treat all news organizations equally, saying Americans can decide for themselves which outlets deserve their trust.

The Louisiana senator spoke with reporters at the Capitol on Thursday, September 24, after the outlets regained access following a judge’s order.

John Kennedy says Trump cannot single out news outlets

“I agree with the president's diagnosis, but I don't agree with the cure,” Kennedy told reporters, addressing Trump’s decision to bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House.

Kennedy said he understood the president’s frustration with the media but opposed excluding news organizations based on their reporting. 

He argued that the media had become more partisan and that outlets across the political spectrum faced pressure to appeal to their audiences.

“For a variety of reasons, most points of media on all sides are more partisan than that,” Kennedy said.

The senator also described the difficulties facing local journalism in his home state, pointing to the limited readership of a remaining news outlet.

“I look at my state. We got one newsmaker left, and nobody reads it, and it's to the left of Lennox, and that's why nobody reads it,” he said.

Kennedy suggested that audience expectations and advertising pressures contributed to the political leanings of news organizations. 

He said the outlet had a circulation of about 80,000 to 90,000 and needed to keep its mostly left-leaning and centrist readers happy.

Despite criticizing media partisanship, Kennedy said he did not support cancelling news organizations' presidential press access.

President Trump announced ban on three news organizations

Trump announced the restrictions in a Truth Social post on September 18, declaring that CNN, MS NOW and Politico would be barred from the White House.

The president accused the outlets of repeatedly publishing what he called “FAKE NEWS” and claimed that Politico had received an “illegal and ridiculous $8 Million Dollar subscription” from the federal government under former President Joe Biden.

Trump also threatened to exclude additional news organizations, writing, “Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.”

Kennedy rejected the idea of excluding particular outlets, saying he had opposed such actions during the previous administration and did not support them under Trump.

“I don't believe in cancel parties,” Kennedy said. He added that he wanted news organizations to be treated equally, rather than having access determined by their political coverage.

“I think you treat everybody the same,” Kennedy said, arguing that the public should be able to make its own judgments about the media.

Judge’s order restored journalists’ White House access

CNN, MS NOW and Politico journalists were allowed back onto White House grounds Thursday, nearly a week after Trump announced the ban. 

Their return followed a judge’s ruling requiring the administration to temporarily restore their access.

CNN’s Betsy Klein and MS NOW’s Laura Barrón-López began reporting live from the White House shortly after being permitted onto the grounds..

Politico also reported shortly afterward that one of its reporters had been granted access.

In a court filing submitted shortly before the deadline, White House press operations director Micah Stopperich provided a timeline of the administration’s efforts to restore the journalists’ credentials.

Stopperich said her team was instructed shortly after 7 am to restore access by activating the affected reporters’ hard badges. 

The Secret Service indicated shortly after 9 am that the journalists’ passes were “back on.”

The reporters were then dropped off at the entry gate for pickup within the hour, according to the filing.