CNN fires back after ex-Biden aide claims White House pressured network to blacklist him
Former Jill Biden aide Michael LaRosa claimed the White House 'threatened' to cut access to CNN if it continued to book him as a guest
By Kristine Parks Fox News
Published May 1, 2025 7:00pm EDT | Updated May 1, 2025 6:00pm EDT
CNN denied that the Biden administration controlled who it let on its network, after a former Biden aide claimed Wednesday that the White House tried to get him blacklisted from the network for criticizing the administration by putting pressure on CNN not to book him in 2024.
"The White House pressured CNN not to ever have me on again," Michael LaRosa, a former aide to First Lady Jill Biden, said Wednesday on Mark Halperin's 2Way podcast Wednesday during a segment discussing how the media "covered up" for President Joe Biden's mental decline.
LaRosa, who served as Jill Biden's press secretary from 2021 to 2022, explained how he was allegedly "punished" for being "outspoken" about his former employer after he left the White House in July 2022.
"They punish reporters. They threatened access. I was booked 45 times in 2023 on CNN and the White House pressured CNN not to ever have me on again after the turn of the year… I've experienced this stuff now."
"They threatened CNN with access, and I was noted in their guest tracking system. So, whenever someone wanted to book me, they would see a note or a flag... Look, I had never experienced the media like that until this election cycle," LaRosa continued. "And that's how my personal views about everything and the media and Democrats has somewhat shifted, and it cost me a lot of friends because I've been outspoken as I am."
A CNN spokesperson disputed LaRosa's comments in a statement to Fox News Digital.
"The White House does not dictate our bookings," they said.
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