Believe your own eyes and ears
Thank you, Veterans of Foreign Wars. The national veterans organization said Tuesday that it was “disappointed” in national convention attendees who booed the media during President Donald Trump’s speech the same day.
Trump singling out the press during his rallies and speeches and urging audience members to heckle networks and individual reporters is nothing new. What was new is that an organization hosting him spoke up and objected to his behavior.
“We were disappointed to hear some of our members boo the press,” VFW spokeswoman Randi Law said in a statement to The
Hill. “We rely on the media to help spread the VFW’s message, and CNN, NBC,
ABC, FOX, CBS, and others on site today, were our invited guests. We were happy to have them there.”
Also, VoteVets.org shared a Washington Post piece about journalists covering troops in war zones with this comment: “Reporters have been in foxholes on the front lines, side by side with us — a place that Trump avoided. Trump continues to attack journalists as ‘enemies of the people’, in hopes of suppressing their coverage of him.” Again, thank you VFW. And thanks VoteVets.org. The president spoke to the VFW convention in Kansas City, Mo., and told audience members that what people are seeing and reading in the press about the economy is “not what’s happening.”
“This country is doing better than it’s ever done before, economically,” he said. “But it’s all working out. Just remember: What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.”
“Don’t believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news,” he added, pointing to members of the press. Trump’s words and gestures resulted in jeers and boos from some in the audience.
Don’t believe what crap? Reports of the majority approving of Trump’s handling of the economy? Unemployment being down? Stock market up? All of that has been in the news. Trump’s problem is that he doesn’t want stories about the negative impact of tariffs — or anything that will make people question his actions or authority. That doesn’t mean it is fake news or untrue. Trump is just so thin-skinned that he reacts like a petulant child who missed his turn on the Merrygo-round.
Trump asked a question Wednesday via his Twitter account @realDonaldTrump: “What kind of a lawyer would tape a client?” His kind of lawyer. That’s who would tape a client — a lawyer whose client routinely lies and changes positions and stories daily.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s long-time personal attorney, released a recording of his meeting with Trump regarding a payment to Karen McDougal in 2016. McDougal is a former Playboy model with whom Trump allegedly had an affair. The recording was among 12 given to federal prosecutors from information seized from Cohen by FBI agents in April. CNN aired the tape Tuesday and it was subsequently shared by other media organizations.
The questions and focus here shouldn’t be on Cohen recording a client. Content is what matters. Cohen may be a sleazy lawyer, but he is Trump’s — or was. Those peas were in the same pod until one popped out and decided to assist federal prosecutors. Stay focused on Trump — in his own words, coming out of his own mouth.
Trump’s war on the media is losing steam. His “fake news” mantra is tired. Some of Trump’s less educated and more gullible supporters may buy into the constant “fake news” rhetoric, but most people are smart enough to watch and listen to Trump one day, retain what he says and does, and remember when he quickly takes it back or switches positions.
And there should be great concern about a leader who asks people not to believe what they can see with their own eyes and hear with their own ears. Trump does not like news coverage with audio and video clips being played because of what they reveal about him. But there is nothing fake about them.