Whether he’s hosting an MS NOW show or contributing to Friday editions of PBS News Hour, Jonathan Capehart is your typical liberal pundit who says crazy things about Republicans while doing his best to help Democrats succeed. However, after President Trump banned MS NOW from the White House on Friday, Capehart sought to defend his employer on News Hour by claiming the network’s job is to simply “hold power accountable.”
Host Geoff Bennett, himself a former MSNBC host, began, “Before we get to these other issues, I want to start with this announcement tonight from President Trump that he is banning MS NOW, CNN, and Politico from the White House because he doesn't like what those outlets report. Jonathan of MS NOW, we will start with you. Your reaction.”
MS NOW's Jonathan Capehart reacts to Trump's White House ban by claiming "Our job, no matter where we are, no matter where we sit, is to report the news, report it in real time, and to hold power accountable. And we're going to do that, whether the president of the United States… pic.twitter.com/KszWuqeXki
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) September 19, 2026
Capehart began by declaring that the issue is bigger than the three outlets, “Look, this is not a story about us at MS NOW. It's not a story about CNN. It's not a story about Politico. It is a story about a president of the United States who is continuing to squeeze freedom of the press. We are not the first ones to be targeted by him, the AP, ABC News, other news outlets. Our job, no matter where we are, no matter where we sit, is to report the news, report it in real time, and to hold power accountable.”
MS NOW does not hold power accountable. It spins and, when it comes to Democrats, seeks to accommodate power.
Nevertheless, Capehart triumphantly added, “We're going to do that, whether the president of the United States likes it or not. And we're going to do it from wherever, wherever it's—if it's at the White House or not at the White House. And I will say, at this moment, at last I checked, we're still there.”
Bennett then turned to National Review’s Ramesh Ponnuru, who was pinch-hitting for David Brooks, “And, Ramesh, President Trump is not the first American president to not enjoy critical press coverage.”
Ponnuru agreed but insisted that Trump is worse:
That's right. Trump, though, is a marked change from previous presidents. He has now a long record of making comments that are hostile to the freedom of the press, talking about pulling broadcast licenses from stations that air what he regards as fiction. And I think that's the nub of the issue. You can have your own opinion about what's true, what's false, what's fair, and what's unfair, but the whole point of a First Amendment is the government does not get to officially decide what's true and what's false.
Back in 2009, the Obama White House tried to ban Fox News from a pool interview with Treasury official Kenneth Feinberg, and one of the key figures of that press team was… wait for it… current MS NOW host Jen Psaki.
Here is a transcript for the September 18 show:
PBS News Hour
9/18/2026
7:35 PM ET
GEOFF BENNETT: Before we get to these other issues, I want to start with this announcement tonight from President Trump that he is banning MS NOW, CNN, and Politico from the White House because he doesn't like what those outlets report. Jonathan of MS NOW, we will start with you. Your reaction.
JONATHAN CAPEHART: Look, this is not a story about us at MS NOW. It's not a story about CNN. It's not a story about Politico. It is a story about a president of the United States who is continuing to squeeze freedom of the press. We are not the first ones to be targeted by him, the AP, ABC News, other news outlets. Our job, no matter where we are, no matter where we sit, is to report the news, report it in real time, and to hold power accountable.
And we're going to do that, whether the president of the United States likes it or not. And we're going to do it from wherever, wherever it's—if it's at the White House or not at the White House. And I will say, at this moment, at last I checked, we're still there.
BENNETT: And, Ramesh, President Trump is not the first American president to not enjoy critical press coverage.
RAMESH PONNURU: That's right. Trump, though, is a marked change from previous presidents. He has now a long record of making comments that are hostile to the freedom of the press, talking about pulling broadcast licenses from stations that air what he regards as fiction. And I think that's the nub of the issue. You can have your own opinion about what's true, what's false, what's fair, and what's unfair, but the whole point of a First Amendment is the government does not get to officially decide what's true and what's false.
