Sam Donaldson has seen just about everything imaginable in his 52 years covering presidents in Washington, but even Donaldson says Trump is completely different, saying he’s never seen anything like the “contempt and apparent hatred” that Trump has for the media, reports Market Watch.
“The effect is to undermine the credibility of the media, leaving him free to pursue policies that harm us at home and abroad,” Donaldson wrote. “Trump’s wholesale attack on the mainstream press is wrong, and it is dangerous. History shows that tyrants and would-be tyrants always attempt to destroy a free press. And that is why the First Amendment to our Constitution specifically forbids the government from interfering with the work of the press.”
Our president is not only denying the press its First Amendment right to publish the news accurately and freely, but he has also eroded independent journalism in the United States and around the globe with his constant belittling of the press – playing into the hands of foreign governments like China, North Korea, and Russia.
A.G. Sulzberger, who became publisher of the New York Times in January 2018, spoke with Recode’s Peter Kafka at the 2019 Code Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona on Tuesday. Kafka asked Sulzberger what he believes the president’s real feelings about the Times are. Does he really think the paper is creating fake news and is out to get him, or does he admire it and desperately want its approval?
“He’s obviously a loyal reader,” Sulzberger joked, to laughter. “One of the things we’ve noticed is that we’ll have a story online all day and then the next morning when it hits print at 5:30 am, pretty much when it lands on the White House doorstep, it’s when he’s tweeting about it.”
But he also said Trump’s true attitude really doesn’t matter because of the way he treats the media. Sulzberger pointed out that Trump has contributed to the growing distrust and polarization in the media today. He also cited the number of journalists imprisoned or killed around the world, and he puts some of the blame on Trump.
“What [Trump] did was he increased his attacks on journalism in a way that has these profound consequences around the globe,” Sulzberger said. “And to me, it’s so dangerous and so short-sighted.”
Trump is corrupting the office of the President
It is a wonder that even Trump’s most loyal followers believe every word that falls out of his mouth. The man reminds me of my dear, departed mother, who in her later years would mix her stories up and not remember what she had told any of her four children.
Tensions between my sisters and brother were sometimes stretched to the point that one or the other of us would be on the phone trying to figure out what was the truth and what was a figment of mom’s imagination.
So yes, I think I know where Trump is coming from and he is dangerous. Our fearless leader blew my mind today when he had the audacity to tell Poland’s rightist/authoritarian President: “Much of the media unfortunately in this country is corrupt. I have to tell you that, Mr. President.” I had to turn the television off.
I have never seen nor heard of a U.S. president that purposely became a lap-dog for so many dictators in the world, and that is what our leader has done. And I won’t even start on the poor decisions he makes, always on the spur of the moment and when least expected by his staff.
On Tuesday, an internal poll by the Trump campaign revealed the president was losing in key battleground states. In response, Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale took to Twitter, calling the figures “selectively leaked information” according to ABC News.
Parscale argued that “the picture being painted is intentionally false because the information only pertains to a subset of questions asked.” He did not reveal what questions were asked in the poll. Particularly telling were the polling numbers for Pennsylvania and Wisconsin where the data showed the president losing.
Trump is the only corrupt force this country has to deal with at the moment, and I certainly hope someone in Congress has the guts to stand up and stop this comedy of errors from going any further.
