In response to the White House barring reporters from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from entering White House grounds, reactions on liberal networks have started to delve into comparisons of the Trump administration to Nazi Germany. On Monday’s Deadline: White House, MS NOW legal analyst Andrew Weissmann compared the bans to the “1930s in Germany.”
Host Nicolle Wallace turned to Weissmann, in a panel that included former CNN reporter turned podcaster Jim Acosta, who also had his press pass revoked in the first Trump term before a judge reinstated it, and asked what the next legal steps would be in a lawsuit from the barred outlets.
Weissmann said, “You're going to win. It's that simple. This is not a close case. As you mentioned, Jim had the same case in front of the same judge. This is a due process violation. It is a First Amendment violation.”
On Monday’s ‘Deadline: White House,’ MS NOW legal analyst Andrew Weissman compared Trump barring MS NOW, CNN, and Politico from inside White House grounds to… foreign journalists in 1930s Nazi Germany having reports reviewed by the government before they could leave the country.… pic.twitter.com/FrvyC4sT7s
— Nick (@nspin310) September 22, 2026
He then wondered why the action was taken by the Trump Administration in the first place, and insinuated it was a distraction from something: “This is a slam dunk. And the president has to know it, which is why so many people are focusing on the issue of, like, why is he doing this? Is it a distraction from other bad news? Is it, as Jim said, a way to distract us from, you know, what he's going to try to do or to soften the blow of the midterms?”
Weissmann continued to all the bans unconstitutional and set up his larger point, and said, “I wanted to just take a quick moment to point out something about the president reaching for something that is so blatantly unconstitutional, and for people to understand it is not about CNN, or MS NOW, or Politico. It is about the right of people to get the news and to hear the news that they choose.”
Then came Weissmann’s Nazi comparison:
In the 1930s in Germany, William Shirer and other foreign journalists were required by the German government, when they were reporting on the growth of national socialism, of the Nazi Party, they were required, before they could report to their home countries, to give their written statements to the government, before the public in other countries could hear what was going on in Germany.
Furthermore, he stated, as his voice continued to shake, “That is what the president is trying to do, is to whitewash history. To whitewash the information that you get. That's why it is bigger than just MS NOW saying, ‘Oh, we want this,’ or CNN wants this, or Politico wants this. This is what authoritarian regimes do. William Shirer reported this in real time in his diaries of what was going on in Berlin.”
After his Nazi comparisons fears, he shifted to fears for the midterm elections: “And to Jim's point about worrying about the midterms, that's what worries me, is that this is so blatantly unconstitutional. And no one that we know of in the White House was saying, ‘We can't enforce this.’ They've taken an oath. You took the same oath to obey the Constitution.
Wallace responded, noting his shaky voice, “I mean, Andrew, I hear more worry in your voice than I've actually heard in years. And, so, that gives me some pause.”
Unsurprisingly for a cable network whose morning show makes constant wild and incorrect historical comparisons, MS NOW has now shifted to likening the White House barring them to Nazi Germany.
The transcript is below. Click "expand":
MS NOW’s Deadline: White House
September 21, 2026
4:12:40 PM Eastern
NICOLLE WALLACE: So, Andrew Weissmann, take me through the legal path forward for the lawsuit that we filed, along with CNN and Politico.
ANDREW WEISSMANN: You're going to win. It's that simple. This is not a close case. As you mentioned, Jim had the same case in front of the same judge. This is a due process violation. It is a First Amendment violation.
You know, Nicolle, you know me well enough that I usually don't engage in predictions or I say words like it seems or there's a fair likelihood. Et cetera. This is a slam dunk. And the president has to know it, which is why so many people are focusing on the issue of, like, why is he doing this? Is it a distraction from other bad news? Is it, as Jim said, a way to distract us from, you know, what he's going to try to do or to soften the blow of the midterms?
I wanted to just take a quick moment to point out something about the president reaching for something that is so blatantly unconstitutional, and for people to understand it is not about CNN, or MS NOW, or Politico. It is about the right of people to get the news and to hear the news that they choose.
In the 1930s in Germany, William Shirer and other foreign journalists were required by the German government, when they were reporting on the growth of national socialism, of the Nazi Party, they were required, before they could report to their home countries, to give their written statements to the government, before the public in other countries could hear what was going on in Germany.
That is what the president is trying to do, is to whitewash history. To whitewash the information that you get. That's why it is bigger than just MS NOW saying, ‘Oh, we want this,’ or CNN wants this, or Politico wants this. This is what authoritarian regimes do. William Shirer reported this in real time in his diaries of what was going on in Berlin.
The idea that the president of the United States, who was supposed to be the leader of the free world, has his go to something that is so blatantly unconstitutional? And I'll just add, and not a single known person in his administration said, ‘No.’ They're all carrying it out.
And to Jim's point about worrying about the midterms, that's what worries me, is that this is so blatantly unconstitutional. And no one that we know of in the White House was saying, ‘We can't enforce this.’ They've taken an oath. You took the same oath -
WALLACE: Yeah.
WEISSMAN: To obey the Constitution.
WALLACE: I mean, Andrew, I hear more worry in your voice than I've actually heard in years. And, so, that gives me some pause.
(...)
