“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

In case you’re unaware, this is the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The press has a right to provide information to the public without censorship. The American people have a right to know the truth about what’s going on in our government.

President Donald Trump neglected and directly opposed the First Amendment earlier this week by banning CNN, Politico and MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) from the White House. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that he came to the decision “as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!”

Reporters from these outlets were denied access from the White House on Sept. 19 and had their press passes seized by the Secret Service, according to an article published by CNN.

“We have a right under the U.S. Constitution to do our reporting without hindrance or interference from the government and this ban is an illegal assault on this fundamental right,” CNN said in a statement Sept. 19.

The three networks took legal action against Trump, with U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly — who was appointed by Trump during his first term — ruling in favor of the networks by providing a 14-day temporary restraining order that would allow these reporters back in the White House.

Despite being reinstated by Kelly, reporters from these networks were initially turned away again Thursday morning by the Trump administration. These reporters would eventually be let back into the White House later that morning, but were turned away that evening and prevented from covering Trump’s state dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Here at The Duke, it is hard for us to believe that a president would directly disregard the First Amendment and try to prevent reporters from doing their jobs, just because that president didn’t agree with what they were reporting on.

As a part of the press, The Duke believes that we, as an organization, deserve to provide information to our audience without any censorship. We also believe that we, as citizens of the United States, deserve to know what is going on in our government without any censorship.

It’s a basic right that shouldn’t ever be taken away.