The president continued his tradition of taking to social media to attack his opponents this Tuesday, taking the opportunity of a new publisher taking over at The New York Times to attack the publication, falsely characterizing their past actions in the process.
The new publisher of The Times is A.G. Sulzberger, who took over on January 1 and is the son of the paper’s previous publisher, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr. The paper’s previous publisher led the company for 25 years, steering it through significant changes in the social landscape of the U.S., such as the advent — and vast expansion — of the internet.
Now, the leader of The Times faces a new challenge — that of the president of the United States taking it upon himself to relentlessly attack the media at what seems like every opportunity. He has targeted The Times so often that he’s begun to employ a widely recognizable nickname for the publication — the “failing” New York Times.
He did so in a Twitter rant this Tuesday morning in which he called for the paper’s new publisher to fix what he perceives to be the cause behind the failing of the news organization.
Trump wrote, in a pretty lengthy statement:
‘The Failing New York Times has a new publisher, A.G. Sulzberger. Congratulations! Here is a last chance for the Times to fulfill the vision of its Founder, Adolph Ochs, “to give the news impartially, without fear or FAVOR, regardless of party, sect, or interests involved.” Get impartial journalists of a much higher standard, lose all of your phony and non-existent “sources,” and treat the President of the United States FAIRLY, so that the next time I (and the people) win, you won’t have to write an apology to your readers for a job poorly done! GL’
There are multiple problems with the president’s statement. It’s clear yet again that he has no idea as to the actual nature of the constitutional freedoms — such as the freedom of the press — which make the United States what it is. That’s obviously a very bad look for the president of the United States.
Although Trump continuously insists otherwise, the mainstream media does not just make up stories. There are occasional errors in the media’s reporting, yes, but those errors are always swiftly corrected with corrective action immediately taken. There’s a big difference between that and just making up stuff — and yet the president continues to relentlessly go after the American press anyway.
In addition to this, it’s not the job of the press to act “fairly” in their reporting. The mainstream media isn’t the PR department for the White House, even though Trump administration officials besides just the president seem to think otherwise.
In addition to all of this, The Times did not publish an apology following the election, no matter how many times the president wants to insist otherwise. They simply published a letter — signed by the now former publisher — stating that in the face of the obvious fact that the candidate widely perceived to have no chance of winning had won, they would be rededicating themselves to getting to the bottom of every story.
Check out Twitter’s response to the president’s latest Twitter ranting below.
Featured Image via SAUL LOEB/ AFP/ Getty Images
