Donald Trump Has No Earthly Idea What Freedom Of The Press Means
Donald Trump’s latest strategy to win the White House seems to be to label newspapers and news networks that publish unflattering accounts of him as “crooked,” just like Crooked Hillary. You get it! They are all crooked, you see. Everyone’s out to get The Donald and REAL AMERICA gets it!
Anyway, on Sunday, Trump and his minions were busy spreading the word that the “failing” New York Times and the rest of the lamestream media are totally biased and saying all kinds of false things about the Republican standard-bearer. While Trump was taking to his Twitter account to rage, members of his campaign staff were hitting the Sunday shows to push the media bias talking point.
At one point, Trump sent out the following tweet regarding the meaning of freedom of the press, which only revealed he doesn’t understand the concept at all.
It is not “freedom of the press” when newspapers and others are allowed to say and write whatever they want even if it is completely false!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2016
Ummmm, that is actually the very definition of freedom of the press, Donald. They can say and write what they want about you. If that something is completely false and defamatory, you have legal remedies at your disposal. But you can’t demand that all members of the press only report positive things about you.
Besides, when it comes to the NYT piece that you are so up in arms about, you could always demand a correction or retraction if you are so convinced the reporting is untruthful. However, as revealed by CNN’s Brian Stelter during his interview with communications director Jason Miller, the Trump campaign is not demanding any corrections to the piece. So, yeah.
Regarding Trump’s complete ignorance regarding the First Amendment, a number of people took the real estate mogul to task.
(The First Amendment also allows Trump to say and write completely false things) https://t.co/XgZLb7p7uh
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) August 14, 2016
It is. https://t.co/XgZLb7p7uh
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) August 14, 2016
This is not a parody account. This is the Republican nominee for the White House. https://t.co/XxZRfPnI2r
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) August 14, 2016
Lol. Yeah, that pretty much is freedom of the press, doucheweasel https://t.co/uwdfpLnwgq
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) August 14, 2016
.@realDonaldTrump That’s why this is protected under “freedom of the press”: pic.twitter.com/Jy3mPR95JV
— Hend Amry (@LibyaLiberty) August 14, 2016
Of course, this is all a tactic Trump is using to try to game the system. He’s hoping if he keeps whining about the “unfair” coverage he’s getting, then some outlets will be shamed into backing off and going easy on him. Y’know, sorta like the GOP primaries. He’s not gonna sue anyone for libel cuz he knows he ain’t gonna win. He’s just looking to work the refs a bit.
Along that route, though, this does reveal, once again, the proto-fascist ideology Trump believes in. This is a fundamental part of Trumpism — control of the media. Everything needs to serve the cult of personality, including the press, most of all. It is why he’s spouted off in the past about the need for stronger libel laws. It is why he denies press credentials to outlets that have been critical of him.
This is truly dangerous stuff, people. It can’t just be brushed aside. He can’t just be disregarded as a buffoonish clown.
