AP Reinstated to White House Event Coverage After US District Judge’s Ruling
A Trump appointed federal judge reinstated the Associated Press (AP) to access White House events.
The AP was banned in February from the White House after choosing to refer to the lately renamed Gulf of America as the Gulf of Mexico, the name of the gulf in the US prior to the President’s executive order issuing the rename along with the reinstatement of Mount McKinley.
In response to the ban, the AP sued Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, along with Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich alleging the ban was unconstitutional and a violation of the First Amendment to the US Constitution.
US District Judge Trevor McFaddden – appointed during the President Trump’s first term – made his ruling on the basis that the White House is restricting AP’s First Amendment rights with respect to freedom of speech.
“The Court simply holds that under the First Amendment, if the Government opens its doors to some journalists — be it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewhere — it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints. The Constitution requires no less,” Judge McFadden said.
According to Politico, allegedly “the exclusion of the AP from newsworthy events in the Oval Office had done significant damage to the wire service’s business, which he described as ‘hemorrhaging.’”
An AP Spokesperson made the following statement after the ruling:
“Today’s ruling affirms the fundamental right of the press and public to speak freely without government retaliation. This is a freedom guaranteed for all Americans in the US Constitution.”
Judge McFadden will give the White House five days to respond to the ruling before the reinstatement goes into effect.
