When a grown man goes around calling people “dog,” “baby,” and “loser,” he brings up images of a grumpy old man with bad arthritis and worse feet, sitting on a park bench. Apparently, this grumpy old man has not had anything more important to do than pull names from his brown paper bag for people who have entered his personal space. Or, the man could be Donald Trump, president of these United States, and now he has ratcheted up his attack on another enemy.
The Senate and hundreds of newspapers across the country had to tell him that he could not call the free press “the enemy of the people.” Shortly after that, the first-rate reporters of one of the premier papers, The New York Times, wrote about the White House Counsel, Don McGahn. When Trump tried to demean the Pulitzer Prize winning journalists, the newspaper did not take it laying down.
An article by Maggie Haberman and Michael Schmidt said that McGahn helped Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. The special counsel has been looking into Russia’s attack on the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the Trump campaign’s possible conspiracy with them. Apparently, the tweeter-in-chief could not handle the truth.
The two reporters wrote that McGahn gave Mueller:
‘Detailed accounts about the episodes at the heart of the inquiry into whether President Trump obstructed justice.’
Trump pulled a few more names out of his brown paper bag, “Failing New York Times,” “Fake reporters,” and “Fake News Media:”
‘The Failing New York Times wrote a story that made it seem like the White House Councel (sic) had TURNED on the President, when in fact it is just the opposite – & the two Fake reporters knew this. This is why the Fake News Media has become the Enemy of the People. So bad for America!’
He followed that tweet up a few minutes later with another one. This time he called the news “Fake Story” and the newspaper “Fake News:”
‘Some members of the media are very Angry at the Fake Story in the New York Times. They actually called to complain and apologize – a big step forward. From the day I announced, the Times has been Fake News, and with their disgusting new Board Member, it will only get worse!’
Then, the newspaper hit POTUS like a wrecking ball with the truth and with courage. In a tweeted statement, the paper said it:
‘Stands behind the reporting of our Pulitzer-Prize winning reporters @nytmike and @maggieNYT.’
The president has a unique definition of “Fake News.” For him, it has been any news that he either did not like or was critical of him or his plans. The New York Times‘ writers got their Pulitzer Prizes with their consistently thorough, well-sourced White House reporting.
In fact, the New York Times has been far from “failing.” Its stock has increased almost 77 percent since the man sitting in the Oval Office first began called it names, according to CNN.
The two journalists’ article that so irked Trump pointed out that McGahn has provided Mueller’s people with information only the attorney could provide. Haberman and Schmidt cited “a dozen current and former White House officials and other individuals briefed on the matter.”
Featured image is a screengrab via YouTube.
