Because the press won’t help him sell his propaganda disguised as MAGA, Trump tweeted that the free press is the “enemy of the people.”
Trump loves to toss around the enemy of the people phrase, but in this tweet he was specific as to why the press is his enemy:
The press is doing everything within their power to fight the magnificence of the phrase, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! They can’t stand the fact that this Administration has done more than virtually any other Administration in its first 2yrs. They are truly the ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 5, 2019
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The free press won’t unquestioningly push Trump’s lies as truth, so they are the enemy
Trump believes that the role of the press is to dutifully write down or broadcast every statement that he makes as the truth. The press is to never question or fact check him. Trump doesn’t want any checks on his statements. It has long been this White House’s goal, according to Kellyanne Conway to control the information that is presented to the American people as news.
Trump is beyond spin or narrative control. He wants to shape the information that is presented to the American people so that it is always favorable to him. When viewed in this context, it is easy to see the intention of what Trump was doing with William Barr’s memo on the Mueller report. Trump was trying to present a Barr memo as the only information that the public would be given on the Mueller report.
The press isn’t pushing his propaganda, so instead of trying to tell the truth, Donald Trump has labeled the free press as the enemy of the people.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
