Trump Reaffirms Support for Freedom of the Press, Slams 'Fake News' for Pushing Political Agenda
More than 300 news outlets across the country editorialized Thursday about the importance of a free press in a coordinated response to President Donald Trump’s attacks on what he calls “fake news.”
“Today in the United States we have a president who has created a mantra that members of the media who do not blatantly support the policies of the current U.S. administration are the ‘enemy of the people,'” opined The Boston Globe, which initiated the effort. “This is one of the many lies that have been thrown out by this president much like an old-time charlatan threw out ‘magic’ dust or water on a hopeful crowd. …
“Lies are antithetical to an informed citizenry, responsible for self-governance. The greatness of America is dependent on the role of a free press to speak the truth to the powerful. To label the press ‘the enemy of the people’ is as un-American as it is dangerous to the civic compact we have shared for more than two centuries.”
The president responded to the editorial campaign with a tweet Thursday in which he reaffirmed the news media’s rights under the First Amendment.
“There is nothing that I would want more for our Country than true FREEDOM OF THE PRESS,” Trump tweeted. “The fact is that the Press is FREE to write and say anything it wants …”
There is nothing that I would want more for our Country than true FREEDOM OF THE PRESS. The fact is that the Press is FREE to write and say anything it wants, but much of what it says is FAKE NEWS, pushing a political agenda or just plain trying to hurt people. HONESTY WINS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2018
However, he couldn’t resist adding that “much of what it says is FAKE NEWS, pushing a political agenda or just plain trying to hurt people. HONESTY WINS!”
Most of the news outlets that editorialized Thursday didn’t address the question of media integrity, bias or accuracy except to declare they are not “fake news.”
However, many of them have published stories about Trump that turned out to be false.
Federalist senior editor Mollie Hemingway suggested the media would make a better case for themselves by reporting “fairly and accurately” on the president and his administration.
The way to hold Trump accountable is to report fairly and accurately on him and his administration. Not emote irrationally in a non-stop tantrum. Report. It's the one thing many in the media find impossible to do. And this failure empowers him, obviously. #freepress
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) August 16, 2018
Others said the real threat to a free press today is against new media outlets — and it comes not from the government but from the establishment media.
Let’s get real. The mainstream corporate press has never been freer. It floridly excoriates the president every day, w/unprecedented vehemence & unity. Meanwhile that same multibillion $ press crusades against fringe media & pushes for it to be silenced
— Walter Kirn (@walterkirn) August 16, 2018
Trump addressed the coordinated editorials earlier Thursday by taking a shot at the ringleader. He tweeted that The Globe “is in COLLUSION with other papers on free press” — an apparent mocking reference to allegations that his presidential campaign colluded with Russia.
The Boston Globe, which was sold to the the Failing New York Times for 1.3 BILLION DOLLARS (plus 800 million dollars in losses & investment), or 2.1 BILLION DOLLARS, was then sold by the Times for 1 DOLLAR. Now the Globe is in COLLUSION with other papers on free press. PROVE IT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2018
It looks like the animosity between the president and the establishment media won’t be going away anytime soon.
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