White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller has claimed he has been banned from appearing on CNN.
Miller was asked about the situation by Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday, who said of his previous appearances on the network: “That was some of the best material we’d ever had on the program, in the history of the program, is you schooling these hosts.
“And now, I guess they might’ve figured out that it’s ratings gold for this program. Did you really get banned?”
“So, this is a completely true story,” Miller replied. “So, over the last few days, our brilliant White House communications shop has reached out to CNN, which, of course, is running one fake news hit piece after another, and they said, ‘Stephen Miller would like to come on your network to rebut any of these lies.’
“And they asked, ‘What show?’ They said, ‘Stephen Miller will do any show from dawn to dusk.’ They said, ‘What topic?’ The White House said, ‘Stephen is available to discuss any topic with any host at any time. As far as you’re concerned, Stephen has no scheduling conflicts at all. He will make himself available from the first hour of air to the last hour of air on any subject.’
“And CNN’s response was, ‘We will not take him, period, for any show on any topic.’ That is completely true, Sean.”
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung subsequently responded to a clip of the exchange on X by saying, “Stephen Miller has graciously made himself available to appear on any CNN show these last few days to discuss a wide range of topics and to push back on fake news.
“Yet, CNN is so afraid they declined to have him on, probably because they know he’d run circles around any of their hosts. CNN is actively engaging in partisan politics and acting as the propaganda arm of the Democrat party.”
A spokesperson for the network denied the claim and said in a statement: “Members of the administration are welcome on our air.”
According to Mediaite, Miller’s most recent appearance on CNN was on October 6, when he sparred with anchor Boris Sanchez about the Trump administration’s immigration raids in Illinois.
“So on the substance of the question, is it the case that as [Governor JB] Pritzker frames it, you are profiling Brown people?” Sanchez asked him at one stage. “That this immigration crackdown is designed to go after people of color?”
“Oh, what a dumb question,” Miller replied in exasperation.
President Donald Trump also weighed in on CNN on Wednesday, saying that he supported Paramount’s proposed hostile takeover of its parent company Warner Bros. Discovery over Netflix’s bid because the former is attempting to acquire the company’s entire holdings.
In contrast, the streaming giant is bidding only for Warner Bros. and HBO, not the news brand.
“I think the people that have run CNN for the last long period of time are a disgrace,” the president said. “I think it’s imperative that CNN be sold.”
He went on to deride the network for broadcasting “poison” and “lies” about his administration, without offering specific examples of coverage he was unhappy about.
CNN’s media commentator Brian Stelter has said there is concern among journalists at the company about the potential Paramount takeover, given that the corporation’s CEO is David Ellison – the son of Trump’s billionaire ally Larry Ellison – who, they fear, could make changes within the newsroom that might compromise its editorial independence.
The Wall Street Journal wrote on Monday that David Ellison recently “offered assurances to Trump administration officials that if he bought Warner, he’d make sweeping changes to CNN.”
However, Ellison has previously promoted several shows in Paramount’s stable that the president has criticized, including 60 Minutes and South Park, and has donated almost $1 million to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, so he is not personally aligned with Trump’s political project.
