On the September 23, 2026, edition of The Briefing with Jen Psaki on MS NOW, Jen Psaki opened her show by telling viewers there was “a lot of news” to get to.
Yet she spent the first 12 minutes of her fake news show on one long setup about Donald Trump and White House press access. It began with a history lesson reaching all the way back to 1970, moved through the decades-old Sherrill v. Knight case and Jim Acosta’s 2018 press-pass fight, and eventually arrived at the current lawsuit involving CNN, Politico and Psaki’s own network, MS NOW.
Psaki then shifted from history, which is not news, to a CNN poll, congressional race ratings and an analysis of how often conservative podcasts mention Trump.
Psaki said:
“I did start talking about national security. This case obviously isn’t about national security. It’s not about classified information. It’s not even about any individual news organization. It’s about Donald Trump slipping hold on power.
Donald Trump decided to ban Jim Acosta from the press corps when he snapped back at him in 2018. That was the day after the 2018 midterm election. That was the purpose of that press conference. Democrats had just won their biggest midterm victory in over a decade.
And Trump was grappling with loss the only way he knew how, blaming someone else, taking his frustrations out on the press corps that had covered his big loss.
And now he’s back in the same position. His poll numbers have fallen to historic lows, actually worse than they were back then. A new CNN poll out today finds his approval rating at just 33%, with more than two-thirds of the country disapproving of the job he’s doing as president.”
That’s right. The woman who opened her show by saying there was so much news to get to tonight is now spending her time talking about a CNN poll. I’m surprised Trump could score that high in a CNN poll.
Psaki continued:
“The Cook Political Report has just moved their ratings for several key races in conservative states toward Democrats.
Even as loyal cult-of-MAGA podcasters are trying to pretend he doesn’t exist, a new analysis by The Wall Street Journal found that the number of times conservative podcasts that used to be his bread and butter mentioned Donald Trump’s name has dropped dramatically.
Look at this chart over the course of his second term. Trump is on course for another midterm rebuke from voters, possibly even bigger than the first one.
And so he’s lashing out the same way he did the first time. He just decided to go bigger, banning whole media organizations instead of individual journalists.
But the underlying dynamics haven’t changed. The press has not changed, the legal system has not changed, the core precedents have not changed. And there’s no legitimate reason to believe the outcome won’t be the same.
Joining me now is Jim Acosta, former chief White House correspondent for CNN and now a very well watched independent journalist. It’s good to see you. Thank you for being here. There’s probably so much déjà vu going on for you right now.”
Psaki declared that the case “obviously isn’t about national security” and is really about Trump “slipping hold on power,” moving beyond reporting what either side says and giving viewers her interpretation of Trump’s motives.
The administration has publicly stated what its reasons are. Justice Department lawyers defended the restrictions partly on national-security grounds, while White House letters accused CNN, MS NOW and Politico of publishing “sensitive or classified information” and failing to meet standards of professionalism and decorum.
MS NOW did not even try to hide the narrative it was selling. Its own clip of Psaki’s opening segment was titled, “How we know Donald Trump is freaking out about his disastrous poll numbers.”
Think about that wording: not Psaki argues Trump may be reacting to bad polls or Psaki questions whether Trump’s poll numbers are influencing his fight with the press. MS NOW presented it as “How we know.”
But they don’t know what is going on inside Trump’s head. Once again, mind-reading becomes news. They know what a CNN poll says. They know what the administration says its reasons are. They know what the courts have ruled. The rest is interpretation.
That is how a narrative gets built: take selected facts, add assumptions about motive, and then package the conclusion as something viewers supposedly “know.”
In what world does a 12-minute setup involving a history lesson, a CNN poll and Psaki’s interpretation of Trump’s motives amount to getting to a lot of news? After all of that, she brought on Jim Acosta. Meanwhile, the screen was already teasing Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin as another guest coming up, and former Obama White House press secretary Jay Carney would also appear later in the show.
Maybe that lineup makes more sense when you remember who is hosting the show.
Psaki entered Democratic politics in 2001 and spent the next two decades working for Democratic candidates, campaigns and administrations, including Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Now she hosts a cable news show where,she continues doing what she did throughout her political communications career: defending Democrats, presenting one side of the story, taking remarks or events out of context, and attacking political opponents.
In other words, before becoming a cable news host, Psaki’s career was spent working for Democratic candidates, Democratic organizations and Democratic administrations. Now she hosts a cable news show where she continues what she has done for decades; defend Democrats, only show one side, take things out if context, and smear political opponents.
I could show her viewers more news in one minute than Psaki covered in her entire show.
Sad what has become of news.
UPDATE — U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly temporarily ordered CNN, MS NOW and Politico’s White House access restored for 14 days.
The ruling does not establish Psaki’s claim that Trump acted because he was “slipping hold on power” or “lashing out.”
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