Nicolle Wallace Blasts Trump’s MS NOW White House Ban: ‘Authoritarian in Nature’

As Nicolle Wallace said on MS NOW, Donald Trump “woke up angry” on Friday. The statement came hours after Trump announced on Truth Social that he intended to ban reporters from the network, as well as CNN and Politico, from the White House press pool. So Wallace didn’t hold back on “Deadline: White House,” calling out the president and saying he’s both “authoritarian in nature and wrong on the law.” “This question of, If it’s knowingly illegal, why do they do it?” Wallace said. “I think applies to the capitulation of universities, the capitulation of law firms, the capitulation of the media firms who did settlements with him. He wants people to be afraid to cover him aggressively, and that, to me, seems like the intent of today’s ban.” Wallace pointed to recent reporting from outlets other than the three banned that likely upset Trump, such as a Fox News poll showing that 71% of voters disapprove of his handling of the economy and The Wall Street Journal’s coverage of Iran. Still, those are not the outlets that drew Trump’s ire on Friday — though they might soon. “Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.” “One of the things people will talk about when they study this era is, Why didn’t anyone do anything?” Wallace said on “Deadline: White House.” “Why didn’t anyone do anything when Trump tried to kick out half of the journalists who still aggressively cover him?” You can watch the full video below. Wallace broke down how Trump’s move goes against the Constitution, citing a precedent that the president can’t pick and choose what kind of coverage is welcome in the White House. She also plainly called Trump’s Friday move a political fear tactic meant to discourage negative reporting from those still let in the doors. “In terms of the press, there is the First Amendment that protects our right to do this, but someone in the White House knows this even if Trump doesn’t. The intention is to intimidate, is to chill, is to sand the edges off and make people afraid of doing their jobs.”