Key Takeaways
- Kamala Harris criticized the Trump administration’s White House press-credential ban during an appearance on “Baby, This is Keke Palmer.”
- The ban stripped journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico of their White House press credentials.
- U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly temporarily restored the outlets’ credentials for 14 days.
“You’re in the wrong place,” Kamala Harris said of Donald Trump’s apparent inability to accept that scrutiny from the media comes with being president. On Tuesday (Oct. 13), the 49th U.S. VP returned to “Baby, This is Keke Palmer,” where she took aim at the White House ban that saw journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico stripped of their press credentials last month.
Although U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly subsequently granted a temporary restraining order reinstating their credentials — albeit for only 14 days — Harris questioned why the administration felt the need to shut them out in the first place. “If you can’t stand people to watch what you’re doing and listen to what you’re saying, one has to ask, what are you doing?” she told Palmer during their conversation ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Asked what the dispute means for the public’s right to know what the government is doing, the former California senator, who lost to Trump in the presidential election two years ago, explained, “First of all, it shows the extent to which the current occupant of the White House has such a fragile ego that he can’t, as president of the United States, tolerate major news outlets listening to what he’s saying and [watching] what he’s doing.”
“It is clear that he is afraid that the American people, through journalists and the media, will see too much to know the incompetence, the cruelty, and the corruption that is coming out of that administration, and that scares him,” Harris continued. “So, what’s the best way to convince people that everything is OK? Don’t let them know what’s going on.”
Later, Harris told Palmer that Trump’s decision to “bar the media” from the White House went against the transparency we typically expect of a president: “You’re in the wrong place. If you want to do things in secret, then why don’t you just leave the White House?” Watch the rest of her “Baby, This is Keke Palmer” sit-down below, during which the two also discussed the Black vote and whether she’ll run for president again in 2028.
What Kamala Harris previously said about Donald Trump’s White House press ban
It’s certainly not the first time Harris has called out Trump over the aforementioned White House ban. Last month, while in Michigan to support Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, she said the 47th president is “afraid of the voice of the people.”
Speaking with reporters outside, Harris elaborated, “He’s trying to stifle the ability of journalists to let the people of America know what’s really going on with their government.” Take another look at those remarks below.