Hillary Clinton drew swift backlash on X after condemning President Donald Trump’s decision to ban several major media outlets from the White House, with the platform’s Community Notes feature quickly surfacing her past remarks about WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Trump announced on Truth Social that CNN, MSNBC, and Politico were banned from the White House for what he described as repeatedly reporting fake news. Reporters from the three outlets found their press passes deactivated when they attempted to enter the grounds, and the passes were confiscated. The outlets later sued to recover access and eventually prevailed.
Clinton’s Criticism of Trump’s Media Moves
After more than a week of public controversy over the bans, Clinton posted her rebuke on X on Thursday. She drew a direct comparison between Trump’s actions and those of authoritarian governments in Russia and China.
“Kicking out the free press is what fragile authoritarians do,” Clinton wrote. Not American presidents.”
Clinton had her replies turned off on X, limiting direct public responses to her post. That restriction, however, did not prevent the platform’s crowdsourced fact-checking tool from weighing in. According to Hillary Clinton Community Note on Assange, X’s Community Notes attached a reminder to her post noting that Clinton had previously suggested killing independent journalist Julian Assange in a drone strike, reportedly describing him as a “relatively soft target.”
The Assange Drone Strike Remarks
The resurfaced comments date to Clinton’s time as Secretary of State, when Assange and WikiLeaks were publishing classified diplomatic cables and other sensitive U.S. government documents. The Community Note brought those remarks back into public view just as Clinton was positioning herself as a defender of press freedom.
The contrast between her post and her past statements prompted significant commentary online, with users pointing out the tension between calling Trump’s actions authoritarian while having once floated the idea of using lethal force against a journalist the U.S. government found inconvenient.
What Comes Next
The three banned outlets, CNN, MSNBC, and Politico, have already regained their White House credentials after winning their legal challenge. The broader fight over presidential access to the press corps, however, remains a live political issue heading into the fall. Clinton has not responded publicly to the Community Note or the renewed scrutiny over her Assange remarks.
