Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:11 pm
In a series of tweets, Newsweek’s Kurt Eichenwald responded to Corey Lewandowski and Trump surrogates for attacking him over a Newsweek story about Trump’s dangerous conflict of interest in foreign countries and the national security “nightmare” they would create if Trump became president.
Earlier, the ad hominem nature of these attacks were noted, and Eichenwald has noticed to, tweeting,
“Hold tight. I wrote an investigative piece on Trumps conflicts, so watch ’em attack me all day, but ignore the piece.”
Lewandwoski did not even try to defend Trump against Eichenwald’s critique other than attacking Eichenwald himself, to present him as an unreliable source of information. He accused the author of not fact-checking with the Trump Organization, to which Eichenwald responded,
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.@CLewandowski_ said on CNN I never reached out to Trump Organization. Folks, this guy just lies & lies without shame. Unbelievable.
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) September 14, 2016
In fact, as he pointed out in another tweet,
“Ive been duped. I was told my exchanges w/ Trump Org were off record. Then Trump/RNC guys say I never contacted Trump Org. Off-record waived.”
Lewandowski also accused Eichenwald of saying “George W. Bush was directly related to the 9/11 terrorist attack,” which is not what Eichenwald said. Rather, the author did nothing less than agree with Trump about Bush’s responsibility for the 9/11 attacks.
I write negative Trump story. Trump hacks attack me 4 "tieing" Bush to 9/11…by having agreed w/ Trump. Mind blown. https://t.co/uookxXZecx
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) September 14, 2016
So abusive have Trump supporters been that Eichenwald was forced to lament,
I really wish a Trump supporter could manage to write 140 characters that didn't include cursing or name calling. Hope springs eternal.
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) September 14, 2016
There is nothing terribly surprising in all this. Trump’s changeable facts will never be successfully nailed down by any journalist because Trump invents new ones faster than anyone can report on the old. His campaign is constantly on the attack in order to keep critics off-balance. More often than not, this tactic has worked.
However, there are signs of push back against the endless tide of abuse, and Eichenwald made his own stance clear:
“Here’s reality, Trump surrogates: I don’t care if you attack me with your lies. You don’t scare me or intimidate me.”
Like them or not, facts are facts. And it is the media’s responsibility to invoke those facts, as Eichenwald has done here.
Hrafnkell Haraldsson, a social liberal with leanings toward centrist politics has degrees in history and philosophy. His interests include, besides history and philosophy, human rights issues, freedom of choice, religion, and the precarious dichotomy of freedom of speech and intolerance. He brings a slightly different perspective to his writing, being that he is neither a follower of an Abrahamic faith nor an atheist but a polytheist, a modern-day Heathen who follows the customs and traditions of his Norse ancestors. He maintains his own blog, A Heathen’s Day, which deals with Heathen and Pagan matters, and Mos Maiorum Foundation www.mosmaiorum.org, dedicated to ethnic religion. He has also contributed to NewsJunkiePost, GodsOwnParty and Pagan+Politics.
