TIME (June
18, 2018) Edition and Related Article
This statement from A.G. Sulzberger, Publisher
of the New York Times following his meeting with Trump in the White House (July
20, 2018) underscores the measures he took to enlighten Trump about the role of the media in America:
My main
purpose for accepting the meeting was to raise concerns about the president’s
deeply troubling anti-press rhetoric.
I told the
president directly that I thought that his language was not just divisive but
increasingly dangerous.
I told him
that although the phrase “fake news” is untrue and harmful, I am far more
concerned about his labeling journalists “the enemy of the people.” I warned
that this inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against
journalists and will lead to violence.
I repeatedly
stressed that this is particularly true abroad, where the president’s rhetoric
is being used by some regimes to justify sweeping crackdowns on journalists. I
warned that it was putting lives at risk, that it was undermining the
democratic ideals of our nation, and that it was eroding one of our country’s
greatest exports: a commitment to free speech and a free press.
Throughout
the conversation I emphasized that if President Trump, like previous
presidents, was upset with coverage of his administration he was of course free
to tell the world. I made clear repeatedly that I was not asking for him to
soften his attacks on The Times if he felt our coverage was unfair. Instead, I
implored him to reconsider his broader attacks on journalism, which I believe
are dangerous and harmful to our country.
Noteworthy: Sulzberger then took issue with Trump’s
interpretation of their meeting. The president had invited the publisher, and
he was accompanied at the White House by James Bennet, the Times’s editorial page
editor, according to a Times spokeswoman.
The spokeswoman said that White House
aides asked that the meeting remain “off the record,” in keeping with past
practice for such meetings, but that the president put it “on the record” with
his tweets.
======================================================
Trump’s strings of tweets
following that meeting in 4 blasts – typical Trump, but very, very
un-presidential to say the least:
Donald J. Trump Verified account @real Donald Trump Jul 29
... and
the Amazon Washington Post do nothing but write bad stories even on very
positive achievements - and they will never change!
Donald J. Trump Verified account @real Donald Trump Jul 29
… dying
newspaper industry. No matter how much they try to distract and cover it up,
our country is making great progress under my leadership and I will never stop
fighting for the American people! As an example, the failing New York Times...Thanks. Twitter will
use
Donald J. Trump Verified account @real Donald Trump Jul 29
...accurately. 90% of media coverage of my Administration
is negative, despite the tremendously positive results we are achieving, it’s
no surprise that confidence in the media is at an all time low! I will not
allow our great country to be sold out by anti-Trump haters in the...
Donald J. Trump Verified
account @real Donald Trump Jul 29
When the
media - driven insane by their Trump Derangement Syndrome - reveals internal
deliberations of our government, it truly puts the lives of many, not just
journalists, at risk! Very unpatriotic! Freedom of the press also comes with a
responsibility to report the news...
My 2 cents:
Once again Trump shows he has one goal and only purpose and that is his version
of “one-man, strong-arm rule” to mimic Vladimir Putin, Kim Jung-un, Xi Jinping,
Bashar al-Assad, Recep Erdogan, and Rodrigo Duterte or any other dictators seen on this list.
That is no
just my opinion, but instead is based on his style of “leadership” or his
comments and actions and proposals to date which are nothing like we have ever
seen or had in our country – that is a provable historical fact.
Now what I
ask again what keeps happening when Trump goes on a tear and does the things he
does (e.g., those awful tariffs, his phony tax proposals, and harshness on
immigrants and kids) – what do “We the People” actually do – merely bow down
and obey his every whim? Well, that is not an option for me – what about you?
Thanks
for stopping by.
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