Barack Obama previously removed Fox News from the White House press pool.
Posted by The Michael Berry Show, Checked
- Sources
- 3 contradict3 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 85%
The Michael Berry ShowSep 23, 2026
The claim that Obama removed Fox News from the White House press pool is contradicted by fact-checkers.
What was said
… It's unimaginable." The Blaze tweeted, "Obama on President Trump's White House press ban on CNN, MSNBC, and Politico: 'Quote i'm trying to think what would have happened if I said, you know what, Fox News, you're out of here. It's unimaginable.'" Hmm. As a matter of fact, he did. We'll get to that. Barack Obama, about a year ago, had some broader thoughts on the media, on social media, and on the role of government in making sure people are reading the right things. …
The Michael Berry Show · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. Snopes states that the Obama administration never outright blocked, banned or ejected Fox News from White House press briefings, and rates the claim that Obama banned Fox from briefings Mostly False.[1]
Contradicts. FactCheck.org reports that the Obama administration initially excluded Fox News from a TV reporting pool for a single interview, and says it knows of no past president indefinitely banning a media outlet from the White House.[2]
Contradicts. Yahoo reports the Obama administration briefly tried to exclude Fox from one round of interviews offered to the TV pool, that Fox was reinstated after outcry, and that the Obama team never sought to exclude Fox from acting as the daily network TV pool.[4]
Context. Cleveland.com and Piers Morgan coverage describe the 2009 episode as a single interview exclusion that CNN and other networks objected to, after which the administration backed down; a C-SPAN community note says Fox was not banned.[5][6]
Context. The White House's own 2026 release says the Obama White House tried to bar Fox from a round of Sunday show interviews and instructed agencies to skip it in pooled coverage, but it is a partisan release describing these as efforts to isolate the network rather than a removal from the press pool.[3]
Sources
6 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 1 primary, 3 not rated
- 1Did Obama ban Fox News from White House briefings? Claim distorts the factssnopes.com · fact-checker · cited for: contradicts
- 2Trump's Ban of News Organizations Goes Beyond Obama, Biden Actionsfactcheck.org · fact-checker · cited for: contradicts
- 3White House Access Is a Privilege — Not a Rightwhitehouse.gov · primary source · cited for: context
- 4What is the White House press pool, and why is it now under ...yahoo.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 5Obama slams Trump press ban, gets roasted for own attempt to ...cleveland.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 6Piers Morgan's brutal takedown of Barack Obama over Trump press ban remarkstheaustralian.com.au · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- The Obama administration attempted to exclude Fox News from a round-robin interview with executive pay czar Ken Feinberg.True
- Fox News has been a member of the White House press pool rotation since 1997.Can’t tell
- The Trump White House removed CNN, MSNBC, and Politico from the White House press pool.Can’t tell
- Fox News reported that President Obama accused the media, specifically Fox News, of propagating harmful stereotypes about poor Americans.Can’t tell
- In 2009, David Axelrod appeared on ABC News to discuss whether Fox News qualified as a legitimate news organization.True