This morning, the president met with New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger, who warned him that his anti-free press rhetoric was “dangerous and divisive.”
Unfortunately, the president seems to have taken this as a challenge, since he just took to Twitter to fire off an unhinged rant in which he blamed the media for putting themselves at risk with their “unpatriotic” reporting.
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…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018
…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 (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018
…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…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018
…and the Amazon Washington Post do nothing but write bad stories even on very positive achievements – and they will never change!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018
Blaming a victim for their own abuse is gaslighting 101, and nobody does it better than Trump, whose entire career and in all likelihood most of his personal relationships are built on a house of lies and cruel emotional manipulation.
But it’s breathtaking to see him do it on a national scale, accusing the media of destroying their own industry and inciting violence against themselves by simply doing their jobs and reporting on the appalling things that Trump says, does, and has done in the past.
The few positive things that have occurred since the Trump administration took office, especially in the economic sector, are largely due to the healthy economy he inherited from the Obama administration — an economy that his reckless trade wars and deregulation threatens to plunge back into the gutter.
He knows it’s true, which explains his deep and obvious insecurities when it comes to lashing out about “positive” coverage and his complaints about the reporting on his endless legal troubles.
Which is why these furious tweets are likely only the beginning of a new phase in his war on the media, and why we must redouble our efforts to take back Congress and finally put this man in check before any more people get hurt.
