Marco Rubio defends Trump’s ban on media outlets from White House, arguing police or soldiers are not ‘kicking down the doors’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the Trump administration’s decision to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, saying in an interview on NBC’s “TODAY” that President Donald Trump was not closing outlets or arresting reporters.

“We’re not closing CNN,” Rubio said. “There aren’t a bunch of police officers or soldiers kicking down the doors of MSNBC or MS NOW, whatever it’s called, and arresting people and unplugging it from the grid. They’re just not allowed to work from the workspace at the White House.”

Trump’s ban on the media outlets marked the president’s most extreme instance so far of blocking access for news organizations whose coverage he dislikes.

The three banned outlets sued the Trump administration on Monday over the ban, and major television networks, including NBC News, have refused to provide TV pool coverage of the president at least through Monday. That coverage allows media members and subscribers to share video, editorial information and costs for newsworthy events where space is limited.

Television pool coverage of other administration officials, including Rubio, has continued. On Monday, CNN provided TV pool coverage of the secretary.

When asked by host Craig Melvin whether Rubio planned to make changes to his pool coverage, the secretary said, “We haven’t discussed it.”

Rubio told “TODAY” that the three banned outlets would be able to continue covering the president, adding that Trump believed that the outlets have shown bias against his administration and therefore did not have a right to remain in the White House building.

“What he is arguing is, why should I have these people, what right do they have to be embedded in this building?” Rubio said. “They can cover the White House. They just can’t have a desk there.”

In their lawsuit, the outlets argued that the ban violated their due process and First Amendment rights, claiming the ban “retaliates against protected newsgathering and speech” and bars the outlets “from a nonpublic forum for unlawful reasons.”

In his Truth Social announcement of the ban last week, Trump said the move was “as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!” In a separate post on Monday, Trump again criticized media as “fake news,” calling it “a threat to our National Security” that “must be stopped.”