April Ryan says CNN ‘is doing the right thing’ with lawsuit against White House

CNN contributor April Ryan on Tuesday said the cable news channel is doing the “right thing” with its lawsuit against the White House over reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials.

“I think CNN is doing the right thing,” Ryan said during an interview on “The Real.”

{mosads}”If you remember, Friday, the president talked about Jim Acosta,” Ryan said. “I wasn’t even there, but he brought my name into it, without even being there, saying that I could have my press credentials pulled.”

“What the White House wants to do is dictate the kind of questions we ask,” Ryan added. “They want to dictate. I say that word strategically.”

Turning to the audience, Ryan said that CNN’s battle against the White House had greater ramifications for all Americans.

“When they suppress us, they suppress you,” Ryan told the audience. “You don’t get the information that you deserve, or that you need.”

CNN sued the Trump administration on Tuesday, demanding Acosta’s credentials be reinstated.

“While the suit is specific to CNN and Acosta, this could have happened to anyone,” CNN said in a statement. “If left unchallenged, the actions of the White House would create a dangerous chilling effect for any journalist who covers our elected officials.”

The White House has defended its decision to revoke Acosta’s press credentials by arguing that he refused to hand over a microphone to an intern who was attempting to take it away from him during a heated exchange with President Trump at a televised press conference on Wednesday.

Ryan has clashed with the White House for months over Trump’s comments about race and racial issues, including his remarks following last year’s white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., that resulted in the death of a counter-protester.

On Friday, the president criticized Ryan by name while speaking to reporters, calling the American Urban Radio Networks reporter a “loser” who “doesn’t know what the hell she is doing.”