WRONG: Capehart Claims Journalists Are 'Only Profession Protected In The Constitution'

Alex Christy
September 26th, 2026 9:39 AM

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MS NOW host Jonathan Capehart’s Friday appearance on PBS News Hour provided a revealing look at the media’s Main Character Syndrome as he falsely declared that journalism is the job protected by the Constitution while taking a victory lap on CNN, MS NOW, and Politico returning to the White House. Meanwhile, The Atlantic staff writer David Brooks was not completely useless. While he criticized Trump for the initial ban, he also criticized the media for being too friendly with Democrats.

Host Amna Nawaz and asked Capehart to juxtapose Trump’s actions with the fact that Chinese dictator Xi Jinping was in town for a state visit. Capehart began incorrectly declaring, “Everything is upside down, Amna. One, covering the White House, access to the White House is a right. It is a public facility. The press is the only profession protected in the Constitution because of our role of informing the citizenry. And so this is another example of the president sort of warping what it means to be in the White House, to be president of the United States.”

 

 

Journalism is not the only profession protected by the Constitution. Any profession that involves speaking or expressing oneself is also protected. That includes religious leaders, political activists, artists, and researchers.

Nevertheless, Capehart rolled on, “Our journalists, all journalists should be there. And I was actually very heartened to see the White House press pool leave—excuse me—in solidarity. So—and I'm glad that our network, CNN, Politico, and others pushed back again against this.”

By “all,” Capehart likely does not actually mean “all” given the lack of controversy PBS gave similar Biden-era controversies.

Eventually, Nawaz would ask Brooks a similar question to the one she asked Capehart, “David, how did you look at this? We should note Trump at one point praised the Chinese-controlled press as the friendliest press as well. Did that split-screen moment strike you?”

Brooks began by claiming, “Yes, I'm sure he'd love to have a state-controlled press in this country just as much. Yes—and I Jonathan mentioned it's a—it's our house. It's not his house. And so the public should have a right to choose.”

He also declared, “This is a democracy. You have to have some respect for the people. And if people want to watch MS NOW or CNN or anybody else, and you want to talk to the people, you have got to have those outlets. And so it's just ridiculous and outrageous that he would ban these places.”

However, Brooks also had a warning for his colleagues, “But if I could vent one pet peeve about us, starting in 2015, we in the mainstream media learned that, if you bash Donald Trump, the clicks go up, the ratings go up. It became the business model. And I'm not saying we're—we play it straight. We do our job, but it's become the business model.”

 

 

Brooks further lamented, “Our job is to keep some distance. In my view, at many places and in many of the dinners I have been to, there's no distance anymore. And that is a problem for the media. And that is our problem. We have got to reestablish some distance from the Democratic Party.”

He concluded by reiterating, “These are people we cover. They're not people we root for. They're not people we're spin doctors for. They're people we cover. And I do think we have done a not ultimately excellent job at maintaining as much distance from the Democrats as we keep from the Republicans.”

While liberal media bias certainly predates Trump, at least Brooks recognized part of the problem. A wildly disproportionate number of topics on the weekly Brooks and Capehart segment are about Trump or Republicans. Questions that are about Democrats are often the “How do Democrats win?” variety.

Here is a transcript for the September 25 show:

PBS News Hour

9/25/2026

7:43 PM ET

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Everything is upside down, Amna. One, covering the White House, access to the White House is a right. It is a public facility. The press is the only profession protected in the Constitution because of our role of informing the citizenry. And so this is another example of the president sort of warping what it means to be in the White House, to be president of the United States.

Our journalists, all journalists should be there. And I was actually very heartened to see the White House press pool leave—excuse me—in solidarity. So—and I'm glad that our network, CNN, Politico, and others pushed back again against this.

But the other thing that I found fascinating is that the president chose to pick this fight with the press in probably one of the most consequential weeks for him in his presidency. He had the unveiling of his new helipad that he would have loved to have had pool coverage. Then he went to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, and no press pool around him to chronicle him being a leader on the world stage.

Then he comes back for the state visit of President Xi. Now, there was some maneuvering and the reporters got back. But this is a president who lives on television. He's watching it. He wants to see himself on it. And this is a moment -- this was a moment when pictures, television would have been supreme for him, and this was just a cell phone, what he did.

AMNA NAWAZ: David, how did you look at this? We should note Trump at one point praised the Chinese-controlled press as the friendliest press as well. Did that split-screen moment strike you?

DAVID BROOKS: Yes, I'm sure he'd love to have a state-controlled press in this country just as much. Yes—and I Jonathan mentioned it's a—it's our house. It's not his house. And so the public should have a right to choose.

And then, most importantly, this is a democracy. You have to have some respect for the people. And if people want to watch MS NOW or CNN or anybody else, and you want to talk to the people, you have got to have those outlets. And so it's just ridiculous and outrageous that he would ban these places.

But if I could vent one pet peeve about us, starting in 2015, we in the mainstream media learned that, if you bash Donald Trump, the clicks go up, the ratings go up. It became the business model. And I'm not saying we're—we play it straight. We do our job, but it's become the business model.

And I get—we get to go, or at least to dinners, sometimes off-the-record dinners between journalists, columnists, and politicians. And I would say, over the last two years, used to be, when you were at a dinner, an off-the-record dinner with the Democratic politician, there was distance between the journalists and the Democrats, because they're politicians.

Our job is to keep some distance. In my view, at many places and in many of the dinners I have been to, there's no distance anymore. And that is a problem for the media. And that is our problem. We have got to reestablish some distance from the Democratic Party.

These are people we cover. They're not people we root for. They're not people we're spin doctors for. They're people we cover. And I do think we have done a not ultimately excellent job at maintaining as much distance from the Democrats as we keep from the Republicans.

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