President Donald Trump is en route on his Air Force One for his much-awaited appearance at the SEC opener for the Longhorns and the Vols. However, a major news outlet was shut out of covering his trip and from flying with him.
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The White House has barred CNN from flying aboard Air Force One. The network was scheduled to act as the primary television press representative for his trip to Knoxville, where he is attending the highly anticipated Texas vs. Tennessee college football game.
The escalation follows a broader week-long clash between the White House and the press corps. CNN reporters were stopped from boarding the presidential aircraft at Joint Base Andrews on Friday night. By removing CNN without an immediate replacement in the mainstream television pool, the move disrupted standard multi-network pool coverage of the president’s travels.
Instead, the administration listed Real America’s Voice (RAV) as the secondary correspondent for the travel pool. A pool report Saturday morning confirmed there was “no TV pool” for Saturday’s trip.
According to a September 26 report from The Hill, the decision to block CNN from the flight directly follows a federal judge’s temporary suspension of an earlier White House ban. Earlier in the week, the administration attempted to ban CNN, MSNBC, and Politico entirely from the White House grounds.
A federal court intervened on September 24, ruling that the restriction likely violated constitutional rights and ordered the immediate return of press credentials. The Air Force One restriction occurred just hours after reporters from those outlets returned to the executive complex with cameras in hand.
While Trump’s travel restrictions on the media coincide with his trip to the game, his presence at the stadium will remain separate from the broadcast desk. Many rumors fueled by online speculation that Trump would join the broadcast. There were also rumors that he would serve as the “celebrity guest picker.” ESPN confirmed he is not expected to appear on the College GameDay set.
College GameDay analyst Pat McAfee announced actor Johnny Knoxville as the guest picker on his show. Knoxville has been a big fan of the Vols and was extremely excited to be a part of the broadcast.
Complications in the game for the teams with the President coming to the Neyland Stadium
It will be the first time in history that a US president has ever attended a Vols football game in person. However, it comes with its own set of complications.
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian noted that, due to standard Secret Service security protocols for a sitting US President, all venue-wide communication frequencies must be jammed whenever he is in motion.
“One thing we have to be aware of is when the president goes to a game, any time he enters, leaves, or changes locations within the stadium, they cut all communication,” Sarkisian said during his Thursday Zoom press availability, via 247Sports. “They cut all communication, so they cut your headsets to coaches, and they cut headsets with coach-to-player communication.”
This security jamming completely shuts down coach-to-coach headset channels between the coordinators in the press box and the sideline. It also affects the coach-to-player in-helmet radio communication used to call plays before the snap.
Sarkisian and the Longhorns have maintained a perfect 3-0 record. However, he remembers the fate of the Miami head coach when the president watched their 27-21 national championship loss to Indiana.
“A good friend of mine is [Miami head coach] Mario Cristobal. Last year, when they were playing Indiana in the national championship, they had that drive at the end of that game. They had no communications because he was leaving early before the game ended,” Sarkisian said.