The following article by Jason Schwartz was posted on the Politico website August 9, 2018:
Tag: Trump attack on the first amendment
Trump at a precarious moment in his presidency: Privately brooding and publicly roaring
The following article by Philip Rucker, Robert Costa and Ashley Parker was posted on the Washington Post website August 5, 2018:
President Trump on Aug. 4 called CNN “fake” and MSNBC “corrupt” but praised Fox News personalities during a rally for congressional hopeful Troy Balderson. (The Washington Post)
In private, President Trump spent much of the past week brooding, as he often does. He has been anxious about the Russia investigation’s widening fallout, with his former campaign chairman standing trial. And he has fretted that he is failing to accrue enough political credit for what he claims as triumphs.
At rare moments of introspection for the famously self-centered president, Trump has also expressed to confidants lingering unease about how some in his orbit — including his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. — are ensnared in the Russia probe, in his assessment simply because of their connection to him.
Yet in public, Trump is a man roaring. The president, more than ever, is channeling his internal frustration and fear into a ravenous maw of grievance and invective. He is churning out false statements with greater frequency and attacking his perceived enemies with intensifying fury. A fresh broadside came on Twitter at 11:37 p.m. Friday, mocking basketball superstar LeBron James and calling CNN’s Don Lemon “the dumbest man on television.”
Trump takes us-versus-them media war to new heights
The following article by Amie Parnes was posted on the Hill website August 3, 2018:
When CNN’s Jim Acosta was booed and cursed at a campaign rally for President Trump this week, many political observers said it exemplified how much the media environment has changed under the current administration — and that it is a sign of what’s to come.
On Thursday, tensions reached new heights when Acosta walked out of the White House briefing room after press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders refused to answer a pointed question about whether she agreed with Trump that the press was the “enemy of the people.”
Acosta noted that Ivanka Trump, earlier on Thursday, had said she did not agree with that sentiment.
New White House official defends decision to ban CNN reporter by scolding other reporters
The following article by Aaron Rupar was posted on the ThinkProgress website July 26, 2018:
“You ask her if we ever used the word ‘ban.'”
On Thursday morning, incoming White House Communications Director Bill Shine defended the Trump administration’s decision to bar CNN reporter Kaitlan Collinsfrom a public event at the White House by making a fuss over the exact language he used during the meeting in which he informed Collins of his decision.
During a brief interaction with reporters, the former Fox News executive admonished reporters to ask Collins “if we ever used the word ‘ban.’”
“What word would you use, Bill?” a reporter asked him.
Fact-checking President Trump’s ‘Fake News Awards’
The following article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website January 17, 2018:
Most of the “Fake News” awards are about reports that were wrong — and quickly corrected. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)
The “Fake News Awards” announced on the Republican National Committee website and touted by President Trump pose a conundrum: Does it really count if the news organization admits error?
Regular readers of The Fact Checker know that we do not award Pinocchios if a politician admits error. Everyone makes mistakes — and the point is not to play gotcha. News organizations operate in a competitive arena and mistakes are bound to be made. The key test is whether an error is acknowledged and corrected. Continue reading “Fact-checking President Trump’s ‘Fake News Awards’”
Stepped-up attacks on the press reflect Trump’s bunker mentality
The following article by James Hohmann with Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve was posted on the Washington Post website October 13, 2017:
THE BIG IDEA: Principled conservatives are recoiling at Donald Trump’s threats against the free press. “Mr. President: Words spoken by the President of the United States matter,” Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) said in a statement last night. “Are you … recanting … the oath you took on January 20th to preserve, protect, and defend the First Amendment?”
— NBC’s story yesterday that Trump asked his national security team about increasing the size of the nuclear arsenal 10-fold prompted more than just an angry denial:
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Continue reading “Stepped-up attacks on the press reflect Trump’s bunker mentality”