Trump's feelings are not worth our democracy or the truth

BY: KEVIN CASTRO

“It’s truly incredible that shows like ‘Saturday Night Live,’ not funny/no talent, can spend all of their time knocking the same person (me), over & over, without so much of a mention of ‘the other side.’ Like an advertisement without consequences. Same with Late Night Shows. Should Federal Election Commission and/or FCC look into this? There must be Collusion with the Democrats and, of course, Russia! Such one-sided media coverage, most of it Fake News.”

This is a tweet by President Donald Trump lashing out at “Saturday Night Live,” a late-night comedy show, after it mocked him in March 2019. This tweet is equally hilarious as it is terrifying because, on one hand, you have a 72-year-old president so insecure that he is literally tweeting about being a victim to some jokes. On the other hand, you have the same president discrediting one of the cornerstones of our democracy because of, some jokes.  

For a president, the anti-press rhetoric is nothing new as many have fought with the press throughout history. It was Thomas Jefferson who famously wrote in 1787, “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

After becoming president nearly 20 years later, it was also Jefferson who wrote to newspaper editor John Norvell, “Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle.”

While the two Jefferson quotes are often used to celebrate the importance of a responsible free press, Trump would go on to misuse the latter of the two quotes during one of his rallies in Melbourne, Florida in an attempt to vindicate his all-out war against “fake news.”

Ironic.

That moment and many others have: The dissemination of honest information is essential to people. 

Trump’s discomfort toward the press is indicative of the value and need the press has. In the two years since Trump has taken office, he has restricted specific news outlets and journalists from participating in press conferences, used prosecution as a threat against journalists and tried imposing high-percentage tariffs on imports essential to the news printing process. All of these attacks leave lasting impressions on his followers that are just as dangerous.

In February 2019, Ron Skeans, a BBC camera operator, was violently shoved during a rally in El Paso after Trump had spoken out against the “fake news” outlets. Skeans’ colleague, Gary O’Donoghue reported that attendees of other Trump rallies displayed similar unpleasant reactions toward the members of the media covering them. During the same month, journalist Maria Ressa was arrested by the Philippines’ government on cyber-libel charges for a story published in 2012 that was critical of Duterte’s anti-drug war. Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte repeatedly attacked Ressa with the same insecure-strongman rhetoric, going as far as to use the “fake news” label as well.

These attacks, regardless of the reason, should upset all because placing the people against the press is an attack on all, not just those who Trump deems unfavorable.

By using effective media control, Trump has dominated the conversation about his presidency. He has consistently undermined the truth, which has allowed him to control his followers' sources of information.

“Believe me,” Trump says.

He uses this saying when he’s talking about his own poll ratings. Rasmussen Reports, an American polling company, has been consistently ranked as the least accurate among 31 other polling sites in a study done by FiveThirtyEight, a website that focuses on opinion poll analytics. He uses this saying when he speaks on his understanding of U.S. policies. There have been numerous reports that Trump ignores the intelligence community in favor of views that are not rooted in fact or logic. He uses this saying when he speaks about the strength and success of his administration. We’ve all seen how his former employees feel about their White House experience. 

Trump even went as far as to blame the media for his own verbal typo when he forgot Tim Cook’s last name and referred to him as Tim Apple in March 2019. Insisting that his mishap was simply his “efficient” and “genius” dialect.

Sure. 

In the words of Kevin Malone from “The Office”: “why waste time say lot word, when few word do trick?”

PolitiFact, a website that specializes in fact-checking elected officials with an emphasis on transparency, fairness, and clear writing, awarded him lie of the year in 2015, 2017 and in 2018. According to an analysis by the Washington Post, Trump has told over 9,000 lies since he became president.

 But it’s the press who’s fake, right?

The main takeaway here is that one man’s ego should not challenge the integrity of our most sacred institution. This deadly rhetoric, one which has captivated all parties in the United States, is dangerous to the foundation of our democracy, to journalists all over the world and to the truth. Any and all who seek to undermine the Constitution and the freedoms it provides are undoubtedly anti-American.