He has praised a libel lawsuit against The Washington Post, called for “retribution” against NBC for satirizing him on “Saturday Night Live,” and, on Wednesday, issued his sharpest words yet against The New York Times, calling the newspaper “a true ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!”
The lashing-out came as First Amendment scholars were taken aback by remarks from Justice Clarence Thomas, who on Tuesday urged the Supreme Court to peel back long-standing libel protections for American news outlets. Meanwhile, a global crackdown against journalists continues, as Egyptian authorities on Monday detained and deported a Times journalist trying to enter their country.
It has added up to a rough few days for freedom of the press, a once-sacrosanct American notion that has been under sustained assault since Trump made fiery denunciations of journalists — and the rallying cry “fake news!” — into hallmarks of his campaign and presidency.
In a series of Twitter posts Wednesday, Trump wrote “The Press has never been more dishonest than it is today.” He added: “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.” He went on to write that “The New York Times reporting is false.”
While the president did not cite a specific article, his remarks came a day after The Times published an investigative report describing how Trump had worked to influence and undermine federal investigations involving him, his presidential campaign and his administration. The Times on Wednesday defended the article as “rigorously reported,” based on a review of confidential White House documents and dozens of interviews.
And he was wrong in suggesting the Times reporters who chronicled his attempts to meddle in investigations had failed to reach out for comment.
A Times reporter contacted the White House about the article last Friday, days before it was published. The paper continued to press for comment over the following days, including on the day that the article was posted online.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.