U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche got into a heated discussion Sunday with Martha Raddatz of ABC News over President Donald Trump’s push to restrict White House access for what he calls “fake news” agencies including CNN, MS NOW and Politico.
When asked about what the First Amendment means, Blanche said: “What the law says, what the free press can do is they are free to report whatever they want. OK? Of course, they can. But when it comes to the White House, it is the people’s house. It is a privilege and not a right to be there.
“And what every American should expect is that when they are told something on any network or when they read something on the paper, that it even has a whiff of impartiality. That it even has a whiff of accuracy about what’s actually happening, and if that’s not happening, then there’s nothing – it is absolutely the president’s duty to make sure that the American people are hearing accurate news.
“It doesn’t have to be good for the president. It doesn’t have to be everything’s positive about what’s happening in the administration.”
That’s when Raddatz quoted a recent comment from the president in which he said: “They want to try and diminish the Republicans and a Republican administration.”
Blanche fired back: “You just picked out seven words the president said. The president talks about his concerns with a lot of these mainstream media outlets. There’s hours and hours and hours of quotes and statements about that. So for you to pick out seven words and say, ‘Oh, that’s what the president means,’ that’s extraordinarily disingenuous. OK? Everybody knows exactly what the president’s concern is.”
Raddatz replied: “I think we could we could give other examples.”
WATCH:
RADDATZ: The president said ‘they want to try to diminish Republicans and a Republican administration.’ He’s not talking about impartiality
BLANCHE: You just picked out 7 words the president said. There’s hours and hours and hours of quotes. So for you to pick out 7 words and… pic.twitter.com/xY6CFggeom
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 27, 2026
Blanche reframed Trump’s efforts to restrict some media, saying, “The president hasn’t denied access. That’s not the right way to describe it. This is – what the president has said is that he is sick and tired of certain media outlets just refusing to report accurate news, and so – look, it is a – it is a privilege – it is a privilege to be in the White House for anybody.”
.@AGToddBlanche: President Trump “is sick and tired of certain media outlets just refusing to report accurate news… Being in the White House is a privilege; it’s not a right.” pic.twitter.com/f5Y1oAAMuS
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 27, 2026
Raddatz noted: “CNN was denied access to Air Force One, and you are saying it is because of the way they report. Has nothing to do with national security.”
Blanche responded: “I wasn’t talking about Air Force One. It’s when you say denied access to Air Force One, the White House routinely decides who can go on Air Force One. This wasn’t a one-time denial of CNN. There’s all kinds of times when certain reporters are not flying or are flying.
“It’s not unusual, and as a matter of fact, it’s common every time the president travels that he and his team decide which reporters get to travel with the president. And so, what you have now is you have – you have certain news outlets upset and frustrated at what happened last week, and so that they’re refusing to use pool coverage.
“The president has every right to decide who gets to fly on his plane, and it is national security, especially on Air Force One, and especially at the White House. And so, it’s not just – it’s not just the fact that they refuse to report anything accurately.
“By the way, that is what is a national security problem. When you have completely misinformation, complete misinformation coming out of the White House, that affects our relationship with our foreign partners, that affects our relationship with our foreign enemies. And so this is – this is just not about the fact that they’re refusing to report accurate news. It’s all about the information that the American people have a right to hear coming out of our – what should be respected media outlets.
🔥 BOOM! AG Todd Blanche just OBLITERATED Fake News ABC
“It is national security, especially on Air Force One and especially at the White House! […] When you have complete misinformation coming out, that affects our relationship with our foreign partners, that affects our… pic.twitter.com/9VrrngJjtc
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 27, 2026
Raddatz pressed Blanche for “one example” where the press had not reported something accurately from the White House.
Blanche was incredulous, saying: “I’m sorry, wait, give you an example of when CNN doesn’t report accurately? You cannot be asking me that.
WATCH:
🚨 HOLY CRAP! Todd Blanche just DESTROYED ABC after she tried defending fake news reports that jeopardize national security
RADDATZ: Give us an example.
BLANCHE: Wait, wait, wait — I’m sorry. Give you an example of when CNN doesn’t report accurately?! You cannot be ASKING me… pic.twitter.com/TIsvXdqA2n
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 27, 2026
“They don’t even disagree. There’s not even a real dispute that the information coming out of CNN and some of these other networks is wholly and completely almost – almost 100% – negative toward the president.”
WATCH THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW WITH TODD BLANCHE:
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