CNN commentator Scott Jennings broke with President Donald Trump on Thursday after the White House denied the network access to a high-profile state dinner honoring Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Trump hosted Xi at the White House and invited his counterpart and other guests to tour the ongoing construction of the White House ballroom. The dinner came less than a day after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore the press credentials of CNN, MS NOW, and Politico. Trump had revoked the outlets’ White House access the previous week.
Just before the dinner, the 7 p.m. programs on both CNN and MS NOW opened by reporting that the White House had barred them from covering guest arrivals, despite the court’s order.
“The breaking news – denied,” Erin Burnett told viewers on OutFront. “CNN denied access moments ago to cover the guest arrivals of President Trump’s state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping, blocked after a judge shot down Trump’s ban to keep CNN, Politico, and MS NOW out of the White House grounds.”
An hour later, Jennings, who is reportedly in contention to become the next White House press secretary, joined Anderson Cooper on AC360.
“Scott, was this smart of the president?” Cooper asked. “I mean, this was a big event he wanted covered and he’s not getting the coverage.”
Jennings didn’t mince words.
“No, it wasn’t,” he said. “This was a predictable outcome by the way in court this morning. Glad to see Kaitlan [Collins] back on the White House grounds. But if you’re President Trump or you support President Trump, you want him to get all the coverage that you would want to get from something like this. You’d want him not to be muted. You’d want him to be fully available and projecting to the American people. And you’re not getting that right now. So that’s a miss.”
Jennings went on to urge the president to comply with the court’s ruling.
“I think legal judgments ought to be followed,” he said. “So, when judges make decisions, we ought to follow those immediately. I’m glad we’re back on the grounds tonight. But overall, as a strategic matter, just as a communications person, I wouldn’t want to put my client or a principal in a position where they’re not getting all the coverage that either they want or the American people in this case, would deserve, because we’re talking about a government official.”
The clash traces back to last Friday, when Trump announced he was banning the three outlets from covering the White House. The organizations sued and won an early victory in the predawn hours of Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly issued a 14-day temporary restraining order early Thursday morning. Such orders are issued before a court conducts a more comprehensive review of a case.
Even after the ruling, the White House initially kept the three organizations from entering the grounds. The administration ultimately relented and restored their access.
The White House, however, stood firm on the state dinner decision, defending it in a post on social media.
“This is a pre-credentialed event. Contrary to what the Fake News wants you to believe, they don’t just get to have free rein into every part of the White House, every event, and every press call,” the post read.
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