Evidence item

The excerpt shows an AP reporter asking Sanders about the plan, Trump saying 'Go ahead,' and Sanders defending the president's position; it does not support that she jumped in on her own initiative. DIRECT_TEXT

Authenticity UNVERIFIED · extraction UNVERIFIED · independence group none (unreviewed) · created seq 8384

Source: Transcript: White House Oval Office Q&A on the press ban, September 18, 2026 (via Newsmax's The Record) · locator {} · excerpt hash sha256:99008508065ce6028e5344c3d5b187f40e1ca500f263a83a9afa1330069f4e4e

Exact excerpt

SEUNG MIN KIM: … And Governor Sanders, you were White House press secretary. Do you agree with this plan to ban news outlets?
…
TRUMP [TO SANDERS]: Go ahead.
GOVERNOR SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS (R-AR): Sure. I think it's hard for you to argue against a free press when you're literally standing in the Oval Office asking questions of the President of the United States. … He's been more accessible and easier to talk to than any President in history. … I think the President is right to support the First Amendment, but he's also right to ask that you be honest and fair. That's not an unreasonable thing.

Linked claims

Claim	Direction	Relevance	Steps	Counted
251c7089	QUALIFY	DIRECT	0	yes

Audits

None.