When Donald Trump banned CNN, Politico, and MS NOW from White House access Friday, the press corps reacted like the First Amendment had been repealed on the spot. Trump accused the three outlets of repeatedly inaccurate reporting and declared the bans effective immediately. He also warned that other outlets could be next. CNN and MSNOW sent correspondents to the White House Saturday morning anyway, apparently convinced Trump was bluffing. He wasn't. White House staff turned them away at the gate.

CNN responded within hours with a formal statement. "We have a right under the U.S. Constitution to do our reporting without hindrance or interference from the government and this ban is an illegal assault on this fundamental right," the network said. "We will not be deflected from our duty to hold the government and other public bodies to account, and we will continue to report on the actions and processes of this administration without fear or favor."

On Monday, CNN's Brian Stelter posted a joint statement from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico. "This morning, we notified the government that we are filing a lawsuit today to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes," the statement read. "Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists' credentials because it objected to our reporting. Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public's right to independent journalism free from government interference."

The rest of the legacy press treated it the same way. You would think our republic is teetering on the verge of collapse. Never mind the fact that Democrat presidents have pulled the same move without a fraction of the outrage, but you won't hear that mentioned on CNN.

And CNN certainly doesn’t want you to mention this. CNN once openly discussed whether Joe Biden should ban Fox News from the White House Press Pool.

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It was back in March 2021, mere weeks into Biden’s presidency, when Stelter (yes, him) asked, "There are, you know, these questions about Fox’s— as Fox radicalizes, and as it becomes even more and more of a political tool. Zurawik, you wrote a column recently for The [Baltimore] Sun about this, saying Fox should be viewed as a political tool, and that raises a question. Should it be a part of the White House Press Pool? You know, should it be afforded the privileges that come with news-gathering, even though they do have some "news" reporters at the White House, you're saying they're primarily a political tool, so should that be reassessed?”

Related: Trump Just Dropped the Receipts on CNN, and It’s Brutal

Guest David Zurawik, a longtime media critic, didn't hesitate to agree. "You're not supporting democracy. You're not supporting the larger values of this culture," Zurawik said, adding, "there's nothing journalistic in what Lachlan Murdoch said."

Zurawik pressed the point further. "You want to let the Proud Boys on your plane, on your Air Force One? No, I don't think so," he said. "These guys are doing the same thing."

I dug up Zurawik’s column, too. 

Zurawik argued that Trump's “anti-democratic” conduct and Fox News' loyal endorsement of it forced him to rethink his earlier defense of Fox as a legitimate news organization. He also argued that Fox was inherently political rather than journalistic.

So, why treat Fox News in any way like a journalistic organization? Why let Fox enjoy any of the journalistic prerogatives, like a place in the White House press room or a press seat on Air Force One? Would you invite a political organization that has opposed your rightful election, like, say, the Proud Boys, on your plane? In the words of Dunn, treat them the way you would “any opponent.”

Did we mention all the hoaxes that CNN has reported as fact?

CNN spent Monday insisting that a president can't strip a network's credentials without triggering a constitutional crisis. Five years earlier, the network floated doing exactly that to Fox News, because Fox was a “political tool” and didn’t meet the left-wing media’s journalistic standards. The only First Amendment right CNN is fighting this hard to protect is its own monopoly on the narrative.