Going beyond Donald Trump personally insulting reporters as “stupid” and addressing a reporter as “piggy,” the Trump administration is launching a broader assault on the press as his poll numbers spiral downward.
During the news lull in Washington, D.C., over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, a new page appeared on the White House website attacking mainstream media organizations that have been breaking news on missteps, blunders, and infighting within the administration.
Headlined, “Misleading. Biased. Exposed,” Trump’s regular foils are listed, including a section called the “Offender Hall of Shame,” that features the Washington Post, CBS News, CNN and MS NOW (still listed by the administration as MSNBC).
Trump has long attacked the press when his actions have been scrutinized, labeling anything that shows him in a bad light as “fake news,” which has lost much of its sting with overuse.
According to one media analyst, the new effort to malign reporting is likely headed nowhere.
Speaking with the Post, Seth Stern, director of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, claims Trump’s real beef is with “journalists not flattering him and regurgitating his lies.”
“People understand the obvious conflict inherent in a presidential administration appointing itself the arbiter of media bias, and I expect that after the initial wave of publicity, few Americans will be paying attention to this latest stunt,” he elaborated before suggesting. “The gimmick is wearing thin.”
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