Sarah Sanders refused to say at a WH press conference yesterday whether she believed the media was the "enemy of the people", despite being asked three times. Trump, in Wilkes-Barre last night, continued his attack on a free press, calling them "disgusting (and) dishonest". The crowd went along, screaming at the press who were there.
This has to stop before someone gets hurt or killed.
Trump calls any news that he doesn't like "fake news", but he is the biggest purveyor of actual fake news. Based on WAPO's analysis of false and misleading statements he makes, it's getting worse - he's now up to an average of about 8 lies per day. ALL of them are demonstrably false, but that doesn't stop him from making them or his base from believing them.
Someone on FOX said on air that reporters should just stop attending his rallies and networks should stop televising them - send a pool reporter in the unlikely event he says something newsworthy, but stop being a prop for him. I was surprised to hear that coming from Fox, but he's on point - take away his props, and you defuse the situation. The MAGA crowd is playing to the cameras; many of them know it's just a game, but there are a few who think it's real. The emergence of Q-anon followers at a Trump rally the other day is particularly troubling - these are Internet conspiracy theorists who are total whack jobs, and now they feel emboldened to come out into the light. And they've thrown their support behind Trump.
At some point, a nut with a gun is going to decide to take matters into his own hands. When (not if) that happens, it will all be on Trump. I saw Katy Tur of MSNBC today relating that she and several of her female colleagues received messages this week saying "I hope you are raped and killed". Who sends messages like that? This is what Trump is doing to our level of discourse - and he doesn't care, because it fires up his base. When the first journalists die, he will find someone else to blame - he always does - but it will be all his doing, just as ripping children from their family at the border is all his doing.
This has to stop. We get it, Donald - you don't like bad press. That's no reason to put their lives in danger.
. |
