Brian Stelter, as expected, and got up on his moral high horse all weekend and lectured about censorship because President Donald Trump banned CNN MS NOW, and Politico from the White House grounds. However, as you shall see, Stelter's protests ring rather hollow because he himself in March 2021 suggested that Fox News be, get this, banned from the White House.
First let us see Stelter complaining about the very thing he recommended in 2021 happen to Fox News, since it's just a "political tool," despite having actual journalists working at the White House:
"The president is once again spewing lies about 'fake news' to try to control who covers him and where," Reporters Without Borders says pic.twitter.com/adupVUh74B
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) September 20, 2026
And now for a trip down hypocrisy lane to hear Stelter recommend the same thing, for Fox News, that he is now complaining about happening to CNN and a couple of its ideological allies. He cued up David Zurawik to argue for banning Fox, suggesting it's like letting the Proud Boys on the press plane:
🚨 JUST IN: Footage has resurfaced of CNN's Brian Stelter FLOATING the removal of Fox News from the White House press pool under Biden in 2021 — same guy who is this morning MELTING DOWN that Trump removed CNN, MSNOW and POLITICO
"Fox should be viewed as a political tool? Should…— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 19, 2026
But wait... THERE'S MORE!
In November 2023, Brian Stelter conducted a friendly interview with Nicholas Kristof who wrote a New York Times column advocating that Fox News be removed from cable: "advertisers should stop supporting networks that spread lies and hatred, and cable companies should drop channels that persist in doing so."
As you can see, Stelter identified Fox as a public harm: "while some cry cancel culture, let me suggest a different way to think about this, a harm reduction model.” And “reducing a liar’s reach is not the same as censoring freedom of speech.”
Following Stelter's contributions to the Newspeak dictionary, he turned to Kristof who claimed it wasn't about censorship but rather about drawing "red lines."
Exit question: Would it make Brian Stelter feel better if President Trump calls his removal of CNN, MSNOW, and Politico from the White House a "harm reduction model?"
