That Did Not Happen!' ABC's Jon Karl Nukes GOP Talking Point on Trump's Press Ban in Testy Exchange With Steve Scalise
Source: MEDIAite
Sep 20th, 2026, 11:11 am
ABC’s Jonathan Karl shut down a popular GOP talking point in defense of President Donald Trump’s ban on three news organizations from the White House.
In a testy exchange on ABC’s This Week Sunday, Karl confronted House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) about Trump’s move to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House. “Do you support him banning these news organizations because he doesn’t like what they’re reporting?” Karl asked Scalise. The Republican leader defended the ban.
“First of all, I don’t think we’ve had a president that’s been more open to the press,” Scalise said. “Look…you go to a bill signing with President Trump, and the first thing he does before he even signs the bill is he brings in the press, and everybody gets to not only take pictures but ask questions. Go look at Joe Biden. Joe Biden removed the press credentials from over 400 different agencies. You know, what President Trump’s done has brought a lot of those back in. But he wants a free and fair press. He’s … been to the White House Correspondents Dinner. He just the other day he was answering questions about this to the press and they’re asking him about his attitude towards the press while he’s holding a press conference. You never saw that under President Biden.”
Karl promptly fact-checked Scalise on a claim that numerous Trump defenders have made in recent days. “That’s actually not true about Biden,” Karl said. “The 400 individual reporters who had credentials did not reapply. There was only one that was actually denied a credential. And all of those who didn’t reapply were allowed to come in. They were not banned from the White House. That did not happen!”
Read more: https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/that-did-not-happen-abcs-jon-karl-nukes-gop-talking-point-on-trumps-press-ban-in-testy-exchange-with-steve-scalise/
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