I spent some time Tuesday morning cleaning out my gmail account and realized that I was feeling a sort of nostalgia for the emails dated pre-debate and pre-Monday’s SCOTUS ruling. Someone on MSNBC echoed my sentiment that the world right now feels as if we are playing music aboard the Titanic as we wait for it to sink. Things are that dire. The unimaginable has happened.
One of the things I’ve been most concerned about for some time now is what happens to the press under another Trump presidency. I can’t imagine anyone feeling brave enough to report anything negative. We’ve heard Trump’s messaging, that he will seek retribution from the media.
As CNN reported last December:
The alarming rhetoric against the nation’s journalists, whom Trump has consistently and insidiously referred to as the “enemy of the people,” has also been echoed by his top allies, indicating the promises of revenge are not the rantings of a madman, but the actual intended course of action should the Republican presidential frontrunner manage to seize power again.
In a particularly disturbing conversation this week, Trump’s former top political strategist, Steve Bannon, and former National Security Council adviser, Kash Patel, openly discussed plans to target the press. Bannon, who underscored that such promises are “not just rhetoric” and that they are “absolutely dead serious” about seeking revenge against journalists, asked Patel, who would likely serve in a second Trump administration, whether he could “deliver the goods.” Patel responded affirmatively, vowing that a re-empowered Trump would indeed “come after” the press.
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“I say up front, openly, and proudly, that when I WIN the Presidency of the United States, they and others of the LameStream Media will be thoroughly scrutinized for their knowingly dishonest and corrupt coverage of people, things, and events,” Trump declared in September, adding that he believes the press “should pay a big price” for supposedly hurting the country.
Just last month, the Washington Post reported on the crisis facing the media should Trump be elected again, opining that the freedom of the press is very much at stake.
“Trump will do everything he can” to restrict press access to the White House and the executive branch, [Bruce] Brown, [executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press] told me. He is also concerned about more Trump-inspired libel suits against the news media, IRS reviews of the tax-exempt status of nonprofit news organizations, a return of Justice Department investigations of reporters and news sources, and federal regulatory pressure whenever there is a major change in media ownership.
In a second Trump presidency, the Justice Department could also punish reporters for refusing to name confidential sources or prosecute them under the Espionage Act for reporting about classified information.
The IRS could audit journalists’ taxes and remove the tax-exempt status of the growing number of nonprofit national, regional and local news organizations. The Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the FCC could investigate news media owners.
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