The terrifying repercussions of President Trump’s endless war on the media made themselves clear this afternoon when New York Times reporter Kenneth Vogel shared the recording of a voice message he received from an angry citizen who threatened violence against him for being an “enemy of the people.”
“You’re a genius. Your insight is just genius…I mean, let’s face it. Hillary lost. You supported a criminal. You still support that criminal. You’re the problem. You are the enemy of the people. And although the pen might be mightier than the sword, the pen is not mightier than the AK-47…and there’s nothing civil about civil war. “
The audio is the creepiest thing you’ll hear all day. It sounds like a serial killer leaving a message for the police in a film, not an email being sent to a reporter.
VOICEMAIL FROM A FAN: “You’re the problem. You are the enemy of the people. And although the pen might be mightier than the sword, the pen is not mightier than the AK-47.” pic.twitter.com/hKHTsGm9KL
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) August 20, 2018
This is only one of many, many recent threats that have been made against the media in recent months. In early August, CNN’s Brian Stelter decided to release a message from a caller into C-SPAN who accused the anchors of smearing them as “racists” and swore to shoot them on sight.
“They don’t even know these Americans out here and they are calling us racists because we voted for Trump? Come on. Give me a break. They started the war. I see them, I’m going to shoot them.”
The rise in threats against the media is directly linked to the president’s war on the free press, demonizing them as fake news and implicitly encouraging violence against them by smearing them as the “enemy of the state.”
The Fake News hates me saying that they are the Enemy of the People only because they know it’s TRUE. I am providing a great service by explaining this to the American People. They purposely cause great division & distrust. They can also cause War! They are very dangerous & sick!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 5, 2018
With the president repeatedly firing out this kind of rhetoric, it’s only a matter of time before violence against the media occurs — and Trump will bear responsibility for it.
