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Donald Trump has pledged to defend the Constitution — even an article that doesn’t exist — but he can’t seem to lay off that pesky First Amendment.
Trump has mocked the First Amendment’s right to freedom of religion by calling for a ban on Muslims from entering the country and criticized those who believe in the freedom of speech as “foolish people.” He has also endorsed attacks on protesters and the imprisonment of people who burn the flag.
And he has made it very clear that he doesn’t stand for the freedom of the press. As a presidential candidate, Trump told supporters he would “open up our libel laws” to sue journalists. “We’re going to have people sue you like you’ve never got sued before,” he promised.
Trump the candidate also blacklisted reporters and entire news outlets from campaign events, referred to journalists as “scum” and “slime,” and mocked a reporter for having a disability. He vowed to sue women who reported incidents of sexual harassment and assault, along with the outlets that covered their accounts, and threatened a lawsuit against a Hispanic journalist group for calling out his bigoted remarks.
"I would never kill them but I do hate them,” he said of reporters. “And some of them are such lying, disgusting people.”
This onslaught didn’t stop once Trump assumed the presidency. From the most powerful perch on the planet, he has continued to wage attacks on the free press, further revealing his authoritarian impulses and disdain for the First Amendment.
Below we provide a running list of the attacks that the president has made on the press since assuming office. We’ll keep this list updated since, unfortunately, we don’t expect them to stop.
Trump has:
Said it is “frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write” in a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Threatened to cancel the broadcast licenses of media companies that offer negative coverage of him.
Had the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, call on ESPN to fire Jemele Hill for criticizing him.
Tweeted mocking images of him wrestling a CNN reporter and his campaign hitting a CNN reporter with a train.
Overseen a Justice Department review of policies for subpoenaing media organizations in an effort to crack down on both whistleblowers and journalists.
Pledged to “fight the #FakeNews” with a Polish leader hostile to press freedom.
Attacked reporters while speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has fostered a climate of violence against journalists.
Said that his mission to “drain the swamp” begins “with the Fake News!”
Reportedly asked then-FBI Director James Comey to jail reporters who publish classified information.
Tasked his former chief of staff with looking into changing the country’s libel laws.
Explored the prosecution of WikiLeaks for publishing CIA and State Department materials.
Labeled the “fake news” media “the enemy of the people.”
Accused the media of lying about his “very nice” conversation with the Australian prime minister. Ultimately, a leaked transcript of the call showed it was Trump who was lying.
Urged someone to buy the New York Times to “either run it correctly or let it fold.”
While Trump tries to portray journalists at the “enemies” of Americans, it’s his attacks on the press that amount to an assault on the cornerstone of American democracy: the First Amendment.
Donald Trump Thinks the Freedom of the Press Is ‘Disgusting’
This Republican Lawmaker is already drafting legislation to violate that pesky 1st Amendment.
(Score: 3, Touché) by takyon on Friday October 13 2017, @10:25PM (1 child)
https://www.aclu.org/aclu-site-user-agreement [aclu.org]
aka
Copyright 2017 American Civil Liberties Union.
Originally posted by the ACLU at https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech/freedom-press/donald-trump-thinks-freedom-press-disgusting [aclu.org] .
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Saturday October 14 2017, @05:17PM
Oh good catch. I don't normally copy/past whole articles but figured since they're an advocacy org they wouldn't mind.
Glad to know we're in compliance!
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday October 13 2017, @10:58PM (4 children)
They're legally free from obstruction in printing or otherwise distributing legal speech. They are not in any way free from criticism or free to slander/libel/shout fire in a theater. Saying the US press are worthless pieces of lying shit is using the first amendment not attacking it.
Now does he go overboard and shove his foot square in his mouth? You bet. But you need to step back and reconsider where you want that line drawn because one day they might be printing how you like to rape and kill young boys. The left loves nothing better than to eat its own and they don't even care if accusations are true. Look really closely at what's going on around, not with, Weinstein if you don't want to believe it. Look at what was done to feminist champion Joss Whedon. Say one thing even slightly off the party line and it's open season on you and everyone you care about.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Saturday October 14 2017, @05:19PM (1 child)
Revoking broadcast licenses due to content and prohibiting publishing without a license is not criticism.
This is a direct attack on the freedom of speech you claim to support.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday October 14 2017, @06:08PM
Saying it should be looked into is not illegal and not remotely the same as saying he's going to revoke their licenses. They look, they find out you can't do that, they feel stupid, life goes on.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by aristarchus on Saturday October 14 2017, @07:55PM (1 child)
https://soylentnews.org/~aristarchus/journal/2682 [soylentnews.org]
Irony Buzzard strikes again!
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday October 15 2017, @10:35AM
You seem to be laboring under the misconception that your submissions are good journalism. They're not. At best they're horribly biased satire. These two things are not remotely similar. One belongs on the front page, the other in either your journal or comments.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 14 2017, @02:08AM (4 children)
Islam is not a religion in the constitutional sense, it is a religion, a system of governance and a system of law. It is an illiberal, misogynistic and murderous ideology that has no place in the USA. [cornell.edu]
Meanwhile, Trump spoke out against illegal immigration and criminality. He was never slandered as a racist before he stood for president and you can go back years in photographed, documentary evidence to see that whatever unsavoury character Trump may be, he is not a racist.
Not even reading the rest of your journal, you are clearly insane!
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 14 2017, @03:43AM
Around 1950, Woody Guthrie called President Trump's father [theconversation.com] racist:
(Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 14 2017, @03:51AM
>Meanwhile, Trump spoke out against illegal immigration and criminality.
(archived from donaldjtrump.com [archive.org])
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 14 2017, @03:56AM
(http://usa.inquirer.net/5719/trumps-bid-restrict-legal-immigration-will-harm-filipino-families [inquirer.net])
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 14 2017, @12:01PM
http://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-report-trump-housing-discrimination-2017-2 [businessinsider.com]
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/28/us/politics/donald-trump-housing-race.html [nytimes.com]