Trump White House unveils media ‘hall of shame’, sparking 1984 and North Korea comparisons

Just over a week after US president Donald Trump made headlines for calling a female reporter “piggy”, his administration is ramping up attacks on the mainstream media with a new webpage on the White House website.

Titled the “Offender Hall of Shame”, the page currently lists The Boston Globe, CBS News and The Independent as “media offender[s] of the week” for their reporting on the six Democrats who addressed military and intelligence personnel and said they “can refuse illegal orders”, and Trump’s response.

The White House accuses the outlets – with specific reporters named – of an “offense” in the form of “[misrepresenting] President Trump’s call for Members of Congress to be held accountable for inciting sedition by saying that he called for their ‘execution’”.

It claims the “truth” is actually that “the Democrats and Fake News Media subversively implied that President Trump had issued illegal orders to service members”.

“Every order President Trump has issued has been lawful. It is dangerous for sitting Members of Congress to incite insubordination in the United States’ military, and President Trump called for them to be held accountable,” the page continues.

Except, that isn’t really what happened.

Sharing a post from the Washington Examiner on Truth Social on 20 November, Trump commented: “It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL.

“Their words cannot be allowed to stand – We won’t have a country anymore!!! An example MUST BE SET.”

He then followed up with a post which said, “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOUR, punishable by DEATH!”

Trump appeared to backpedal on his remarks a day later in comments to Fox News, when he said: “I think they are in serious trouble. I would say they’re in serious trouble. I’m not threatening death, but I think they’re in serious trouble. In the old days, it was death. That was seditious behaviour.”

But one X/Twitter user has put the Truth Social post and the White House’s remarks side-by-side in a tweet quoting George Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984:

“We call what he’s doing to the press censorship,” said another:

A third wrote: “This administration is a clown show. I can’t wait to see the Epstein files”:

Progressive political commentator Richard Angwin described the site as “just an official government enemies list dressed up as transparency”:

Someone else shared an image of North Korea news anchor Ri Chun-hee and said “soon, this is all we’re gonna see”:

Meanwhile journalist David Leavitt asked if he could be added to the “honourable list”:

indy100 hasn't quite made the “Hall of Shame” yet.

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