Beating the Press
President Trump has a legitimate beef with the coverage he’s getting from much of the news media. But his latest response to that coverage could make his press critics look like the victims. The president was furious over an NBC News report that he’d once demanded a tenfold increase in the US nuclear arsenal. He denied the story, saying it’s “frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write.”
So far, so good. But then he started making what sound like threats: “Network news has become so partisan, distorted and fake that licenses must be challenged and, if appropriate, revoked.”
Of course, TV networks (unlike individual stations) aren’t licensed, so there’s nothing to revoke. And the print press, which he’s also railed against, is protected by the First Amendment. But it still like a president threatening to use federal power to close down outlets that cross him — which would be tyranny, and a violation of his oath to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution.
Trump certainly isn’t the first president to rail against the media, both publicly and pri- vately. But he has more cause: The Pew Research Center found that two-thirds of the network news stories during Trump’s first 60 days in office were negative — double to triple the rate of the last three prior presidents. And only 5 percent were positive.
It hasn’t let up. Notably, every day’s Washington Post and New York Times bring multiple hits on the chief executive and his administration — and the tone is growing more hysterical.
But here’s the thing: The press has clearly turned so venomous out of because all the nonstop attacks have had so little effect.
More, Trump has plenty of ways to counter false reports, including both the presidential “bully pulpit” and his Twitter account, which utterly bypasses the media establishment.
Slapping the press wins points with the president’s base, but any hint of shutting down hostile outlets is going to sound dangerous to millions of other Americans who voted for him. If he keeps it up, they may even start sympathizing with the Fourth Estate attack dogs.