Donald Trump is lacking a number of basic qualifications for his job. One of the most obvious comes from his thin skin. As he might say, “I have the thinnest skin in history and maybe longer.” He cannot bear any form of criticism or even anyone telling him “no.” Today, POTUS ratcheted up his attack on the free press and the First Amendment. It looks bad.
The White House just sent out a directive from the man who never forgets a grudge escalating his war with “the fake news” aka “enemy of the people.” He instructed all of the federal agencies to cancel their subscriptions to The Washington Post and The New York Times.
This happened just days after he made his staff remove all copies of both newspapers from the White House. He has long attacked the media. Totalitarian leaders, the worst form of authoritarian dictators, begin their rise to power by killing off their free press.
White House Press secretary Stephanie Grisham just released this statement indicating the boss was making was a cost-saving move. Yet, the cost to the nation for dismantling one of the Constitutions’ basic tenants could be severe. Grisham wrote:
‘Not renewing subscriptions across all federal agencies will be a significant cost saving for taxpayers – hundreds of thousands of dollars.’
The Wall Street Journal was not on the chopping block, at least not yet. It was the first to report the story. Papers have seen a resurgence of rigorous investigative journalism since Trump took office.
POTUS has always had a love-hate relationship with the media. He loved the attention and even leaked his own stories. Yet, he found the criticism extremely uncomfortable.
He has had a history of berating the news outlets, and he typically points out their physical location during his rallies. The host of MSNBC’s Live with Katy Tur traveled with the Trump campaign. He often pointed her out, and the crowd became so irate that security had to walk her out.
She asked one of his aides whether he cared if members of the press got hurt, and the aide replied “No.” Tur was so surprised at the response that she asked the question again. The answer was still “No.”
Trump has also defended Russia for killing journalists during an interview with MNBC’s Morning Joe host, Joe Scarborough. According to The Lawfare Blog, the host said that Russian President Vladimir Putin:
‘[K]ills journalists that don’t agree with him,’
Trump’s response was startling:
‘Well I think our country does plenty of killing.’
In addition, the president never did denounce the Saudi’s who were responsible for the kidnappng, torture, and dismemberment of a Washington Post columnist living in the U.S.,  Jamal Khashoggi.
When Trump was in Kansas City speaking at the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ annual convention in 2018, what he told them about the “fake news” was truly chilling. CNN reported that he told the veterans:
‘Stick with us. Don’t believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news. … What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.’
POTUS also tried to up the shipping costs to Amazon, because its owner Jeff Bezos also owned the Washington Post. The president of these United States did not like what the newspaper was saying about him.
Trump gave the world a warning about what he was planning on Fox News’ Sean Hannity’s show. He made an interesting word choice when he said that the White House would:
‘[P]robably terminate [The New York Times] and The Washington Post.’
Indeed, the press secretary did confirm that the White House had canceled its subscription to both newspapers. Sure enough, neither paper was along with those in the press office Thursday morning.
If Federal employees would like a free online subscription to the Washington Post, they can obtain one using their government email.
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
