‘USA Today’ Should Be Ashamed Of Itself For Publishing Trump’s Fact-Free Op-Ed
What the bloody hell was USA Today thinking?
Readers of the national newspaper were greeted this morning with an op-ed penned by President Donald Trump in which he slammed Democratic proposals to expand Medicare to all Americans, otherwise known as “Medicare-for-All.” The article was presented uncritically by the paper — as if just another opinion piece by a random author — and promoted numerous times by the outlet’s 3.6 million-follower Twitter account and USA Today reporters.
.@usatodayopinion: Democrats want to outlaw private health care plans, taking away freedom to choose plans while letting anyone cross our border. We must win this. https://t.co/aVqE7oxDj3
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) October 10, 2018
"As a candidate, I promised that we would protect coverage for patients with pre-existing conditions and create new health care insurance options that would lower premiums. I have kept that promise," @realDonaldTrump writes for @usatodayopinion. https://t.co/aVqE7oxDj3
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) October 10, 2018
Four weeks before the midterms, President Trump takes aim at Democrats in a @USATODAY op-ed: “The truth is that the centrist Democratic Party is dead. The new Democrats are radical socialists who want to model America’s economy after Venezuela.” https://t.co/YS0xHrsfKh
— Susan Page (@SusanPage) October 10, 2018
It wasn’t just that the paper gave the president — someone who gets more press coverage than any other living human — unfettered access to its readers, it published a piece that was completely devoid of truth. In a fact-check of the column, the Washington Post found that “almost every sentence contained a misleading statement or a falsehood,” noting that many of the claims that Trump made in the piece have been debunked over and over again.
Media Matters’ Matt Gertz explained that since the president lies constantly and that he keeps lying even when he’s been proven to be wrong, it is “journalistic malpractice for any newspaper to give Trump unimpeded access to its readers.” After pinpointing the numerous times Trump lied in the article, Gertz concluded that it is “simply unbelievable” that the paper’s editorial page editors wouldn’t know “that the president will lie to their readers if they give him the opportunity.”
Meanwhile, journalism professor and media critic Jay Rosen tore right into the paper, saying it had “lost its mind” by publishing the piece. “What a humiliation for everyone who works there,” he added.
This morning @USATODAY lost its mind. It ran an op-ed in which "almost every sentence contained a misleading statement or a falsehood," according to the Washington Post fact checker. What a humiliation for everyone who works there. https://t.co/fnKscxXKeB
— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) October 10, 2018
And that’s the thing. This was nothing more than a press release disguised as an op-ed. Worse, even as a press release, it was filled with falsehoods, lies, and misstatements. Why would USA Today push out this dishonest and mendacious piece to its millions of readers? What’s the point, other than to place itself right in the middle of a culture war?
There’s also no backing out by the paper. They can’t apologize for publishing the piece, can’t retract it, and can’t even amend it with editor’s notes as they’ll be flooded with accusations that they’re bending to the will of the left-wing mob. The damage is done now.
The paper has to deal with the fact that it allowed itself to be a propaganda arm of the president to spread lies to the American public in an effort to scare older voters into voting Republican. There’s really no other way to look at their decision to publish this piece.
Congratulations, USA Today, you done played yourself. Now you need to sit there in shame.
UPDATE: Shortly after publication, USA Today sent out a couple tweets saying the paper treated Trump’s op-ed just like any other column submission, meaning it gave Trump “wide leeway” to express his opinion. It also welcomed readers to submit their opinion to the piece.
2/3: President Trump’s op-ed was treated like other column submissions; we check factual assertions while allowing authors wide leeway to express their opinions.
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) October 10, 2018
3/3: Readers are invited to submit opposing viewpoints and provide additional context, some of which will be published in the days ahead.
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) October 10, 2018