Trump media ban backfires as helipad opening footage left with inaudible sound after press boycott
Donald Trump's banning of news organisations from the White House has backfired - as footage from his event was broadcast with inaudible sound.
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After he banned CNN, MSNOW and Politico, the other networks that make up the press pool boycotted the event in solidarity.
“There will be no replacement pool put in place,” wrote Bryan Boughton, Fox News’ Washington bureau chief and chair of the White House television pool to media colleagues.
The pool had been slated to cover the ribbon-cutting of Trump's new helipad on the White House lawn on Monday.
Instead, the footage that was broadcast on Trump-friendly network Newsmax saw the President's speech unable to be heard.
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“There’s no microphone because the pool cameras aren’t there,” explained Bianca de la Garza, who was covering the event.
The effective boycott may further trouble Trump, as the United Nations General Assembly takes place in New York this week.
The three outlets banned by Trump have launched a legal bid to be reinstated, arguing that their removal vioalted the First Amendment right to free speech.
Aidan McLaughlin, the Washington correspondent for Vanity Fair, suggested on social media that, at the rate things are going, a lawsuit may not even have been necessary.
“He’s gonna lift the ban by the end of the week,” he predicted.