President Trump’s tweet calling the New York Times the “ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE” brought a blistering response from the Gray Lady’s publisher, who said the phrase “isn’t just false, it’s dangerous,” reports The NY Post.
Trump set off the dust-up Wednesday morning when he tweeted:
The New York Times reporting is false. They are a true ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2019
Several hours later, the newspaper’s publisher, A.G. Sulzberger, released a statement condemning Trump’s comment.
“The phrase ‘enemy of the people’ is not just false, it’s dangerous. It has an ugly history of being wielded by dictators and tyrants who sought to control public information,” Sulzberger said in the statement. “And it is particularly reckless coming from someone whose office gives him broad powers to fight or imprison the nation’s enemies.”
Sulzberger also noted that he met with Trump at the White House — once last July and again at the end of January — when the publisher and the president discussed Trump’s abusive treatment of the media.
“As I have repeatedly told President Trump face to face, there are mounting signs that this incendiary rhetoric is encouraging threats and violence against journalists at home and abroad,” Sulzberger said in the statement.
By “demonizing the free press as the enemy,” he wrote, the president is backing away from a “distinctly American principle.”
In his tweet, Trump didn’t elaborate on why he chose Wednesday to continue his attacks on the Times. About an hour before, he lashed out at the media in general:
The Press has never been more dishonest than it is today. Stories are written that have absolutely no basis in fact. The writers don’t even call asking for verification. They are totally out of control. Sadly, I kept many of them in business. In six years, they all go BUST!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2019
On Wednesday, the Times published an in-depth report outlining the investigations hovering around Trump and how he reacted to them.
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