A judge ruled that the White House had to allow entry to journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico after President Donald Trump had their hard passes pulled. That ruling didn't extend to Air Force One, however, and plenty of people were happy to let CNN know a couple of weekends ago that chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins and her camera crew were perfectly free to fly commercial to Tennessee to cover the president's trip there.
CNN's Brian Stelter has what he's calling a scoop on Monday. The White House is refusing to let Politico's correspondent on Air Force One, meaning the propaganda outlet would not be able to fulfill its press corps pool responsibilities.
Scoop: The White House is refusing to allow Politico on Air Force One today, which means the news outlet cannot fulfill its press corps pool responsibilities. https://t.co/NNiK296TLJ
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) October 5, 2026
With Politico barred from the trip, the White House offered the publication's seat to others that routinely take turns in the out-of-town travel pool, and many publications declined, sources with knowledge of the matter told CNN. More to come on this...
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) October 5, 2026
Is Stelter saying that CNN is one of the other publications that declined to take Politico's seat? You'd think he'd make that clearer instead of going with "sources with knowledge of the matter." In any case, Real America's Voice probably has a TV crew on board and is offering its raw feed to any outlet that wants it.
@brianstelter Oh well. Good riddance
— Spitfire (@RealSpitfire) October 5, 2026
@brianstelter @ZavalaA Good. There are plenty of others to do the job.
— California Courageous (@DispTimes) October 5, 2026
Recommended
@brianstelter Who cares? https://t.co/IcgabS1wS4
— 🇺🇸Mike🇺🇸 (@FreedomFan88) October 5, 2026
@brianstelter Who cares? The other 50 will take care of it and Politico is free to report, not free to gain access to privileged flights.
— Fred D (@MrKrueger70) October 5, 2026
@brianstelter That's ok. There are others on the plane who will bring us the coverage. The pool is a dinosaur.
— Brad - Duke of Uncommon Sense (@bradthompsontx) October 5, 2026
@brianstelter Good thing there are what, 25+ other reporters on the plane? Your sense of entitlement is off the charts
— Thomas Lynch (@1fastkeowee) October 5, 2026
@brianstelter https://t.co/Crf4Sv6gvq
— Rabid (@Rabid8264) October 5, 2026
@brianstelter That's okay, Brian, they can make shit up and invent stories from the comfort of their cubicles at the office. Coffee's probably better anyway.
— USA Features Media (@USAFeatures) October 5, 2026
@brianstelter Plenty of other places to get good unbiased coverage. Relax.
— J Kinsel 🇺🇸 (@JKins52) October 5, 2026
@brianstelter Scoop: It also means they can't lie about what they saw or heard on Air Force One.
— Patriotgal1234 (@patriotgal1234) October 5, 2026
@brianstelter Aw, man, that sucks. I was really looking for a biased opinion piece based on fabrications and colorful artistic license.
— Jim Roncal (@jimondrd) October 5, 2026
@brianstelter The fake news part here is pretending that Politico EVER fulfilled their journalistic responsibilities. They are twinsies with CNN in the fake news department.
— Ungrateful Peasant (@JamesjmaersonIV) October 5, 2026
@brianstelter “Responsibilities”? Your responsibility is to provide fair and balanced reporting. CNN nor Politico offers neither.
— Harry (@Silverfox194513) October 5, 2026
It doesn't sound like anyone cares.
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