For Trump, media manipulation is his show of force
President Donald Trump has long railed against the “fake news” as an “enemy of the people.” But this week, the president showed how far he has come in finding a new use for the media: as props.
Friendly influencers were summoned to the White House on Wednesday afternoon, as they have been throughout Trump’s second term, to bolster his agenda and attack his targets of the moment. Reporters from mainstream news organizations remained part of the presentation, but mostly as silent foils and heels to be disparaged and critiqued.
“I read more of your stories than I do theirs,” FBI Director Kash Patel told the influencers, gesturing to the reporters at the back of the room, “because you guys are putting out the truth.”
Related Knowledge Center: The White House vs. the press
Whether it’s the Des Moines Register’s publication of an unfavorable election poll, a routine edit of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, or the Associated Press’s decision in its authoritative stylebook to continue to use “Gulf of Mexico,” Donald Trump and the White House have used executive authority and legal reprisals in an effort to punish and suppress press coverage that runs contrary to the administration’s preferred narratives.
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