George W. Bush just spoke out against Donald Trump’s war on the media

Donald Trump has not been happy with the news media recently.

Other than Fox and Friends, whose fawning coverage he will be ennobling with a live appearance later today.

Frustrated with a plurality of media organisations reporting his low approval ratings, his unfeasible policies, his poor defences against allegations of ties to Russia, and his failure to disclose his tax returns; he's launched an attack on the free press, as of late.

He's labelled certain prestigious organisations, which adhere to journalistic editorial standards to hold him to account, as "enemies of the people" and "a great danger to our country":

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution reads:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Donald Trump also exercises freedom of speech in criticising the press, but to declare them "enemies of the people" is a little dictatorial, especially when they publish accurate stories he simply does not like.

To prohibit the access of outlets critical to your actions, thereby diminishing their ability to report a story for the public, is against democratic ideals of transparent government.

His own party's grandees are trying to remind him of that.

Former Republican President George W. Bush told Matt Lauer of NBC's Today show:

Picture: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

I consider the media to be indispensable to democracy. That we need the media to hold people like me to account.

I mean, power can be very addictive and it can be corrosive, and it’s important for the media to call to account people who abuse their power, whether it be here or elsewhere.

Donald Trump recently told the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), prior to the White House shutout of, among others, the BBC, the New York Times and CNN:

I want you all to know that we are fighting the fake news. It’s fake, phony, fake.

A few days ago, I called the fake news ‘the enemy of the people,’ and they are. They are the enemy of the people. Because they have no sources. They just make them up when there are none.

Uh.

Maybe Donnie should research the ways in which the media serves democracy, while he's there he might "learn how to use quote marks".

HT Politico

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