Mike Pence Is Banning Coronavirus Health Officials From Appearing On CNN

Vice President Mike Pence, who leads the White House coronavirus task force, has banned top health officials from appearing on CNN after the network stopped airing the federal government’s entire daily coronavirus press briefings.

As CNN‘s website reports, Pence is attempting to pressure the news outlet to air the entire press briefings without cutting away as it has done in recent days.

The vice president’s office is responsible for booking officials from the task force on various television networks. A representative told CNN that officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci, Surgeon General Jerome Adams, and Dr. Deborah Birx wouldn’t be booked on the network until it resumed covering the entirety of the briefings, including Pence’s remarks.

“When you guys cover the briefings with the health officials then you can expect them back on your air,” a spokesperson said.

Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, had appeared on CNN at least five different times in the past few weeks, and both Birx and Fauci have made frequent appearances on other networks in recent days. Other non-health care officials have appeared on CNN, including Trump advisor Peter Navarro and Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

CNN sometimes cuts off the White House briefings after President Donald Trump leaves the podium in order to fact check his statements. The briefings can also run for up to two hours. The network did show Pence’s portion on Wednesday night.

CNN has also requested to have the president appear for an interview, but so far, Trump has chosen to appear only on Fox News.

As The Inquisitr previously reported, other major networks, such as MSNBC, have also chosen not to air the entire briefings, saying that the president doesn’t always provide accurate information.

MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski tweeted that all of the networks should be providing context and fact-checking during the briefings.

“Trump is flat out lying to the American people and right now our network and all networks should be cutting in to FactCheck him. If we’re going to carry these ridiculous briefings, we need to give it context and we need to fact check a President who has trouble with the truth,” she tweeted.

Trump, in turn, has criticized the press. He recently said that his response to the coronavirus has been spot-on, but that his coverage in the press hasn’t reflected that. He has also repeated his claim that the press is airing “fake news.”