Don't believe claim White House put 'permanent ban' on CNN

A rumor that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced a permanent ban on CNN, calling it a "radical leftist propaganda brainwashing machine," circulated online in late January and early February 2026. For example, one X post (archived) with more than 140,000 views read: 

BREAKING BOMBSHELL: WHITE HOUSE JUST APPROVED PERMANENT BAN ON CNN – THEY'RE DONE! Karoline Leavitt UNLEASHES: "CNN ISN'T NEWS, IT'S PURE RADICAL LEFTIST PROPAGANDA BRAINWASHING MACHINE!

(X user @mcafeenew)

Variations of the rumor spread via other X accounts and Facebook, as well. 

While the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has denied CNN access afforded to other networks on multiple occasions, there was no evidence the White House placed a "permanent ban" on CNN, nor that Leavitt explicitly stated the network was a "brainwashing machine." 

Rather, the rumor about a "permanent ban" originated with America's Last Line Of Defense (ALLOD) — a social media account that describes its output as being humorous or satirical in nature. The original post (archived) featured a watermark declaring the claim "satire" and the account's bio states: "Nothing on this page is real."

We found no evidence Leavitt said, "CNN isn't news, it's radical leftist propaganda. This administration won't be subjected to their twisted questions and constant lies," as ALLOD claimed. 

Following several authentic videos of Leavitt publicly calling a reporter a "left-wing hack" after he asked a question regarding a federal agent's fatal shooting of Minneapolis resident Renee Good, the ALLOD post was the first result for the quote "CNN isn't news, it's radical leftist propaganda." If Leavitt had actually stated the quote, major news media sites such as CNN itself would have reported it.

(Google.com)

The fictional story tapped into real reports that the Trump administration blocked multiple news media outlets — including The Associated Press, Reuters and Bloomberg — from standard White House access in 2025.

ALLOD has a history of making up stories for shares and comments, sometimes relying on artificial-intelligence (AI) writing software to do its storytelling. 

Snopes has addressed many such satirical claims by ALLOD in the past, including false claims regarding net worth figures of progressive politicians and a rumor that the Department of Government Efficiency found U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders owed $1.6M in unpaid taxes.

For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.