Another news outlet has upset Donald Trump, so he’s revoked their press credentials for his campaign events. This time, the honor goes to the Washington Post, because they wrote a headline about him that he didn’t like. The article in question is about Trump maybe suggesting that President Obama had something to do with the Orlando nightclub shooting on Fox News.
According to Politico, Trump took issue with the article title, and posted on Facebook about it on Monday:
And then, an hour later, Trump brought the hammer down:
In the article that Trump takes issue with, the Washington Post writes about how Trump seemed to suggest that Obama had something to do with Sunday’s gay nightclub shooting. This is because he’s still suspicious of Obama not qualifying his use of “terrorism” with “Islamic”:
“Look, we’re led by a man that either is not tough, not smart, or he’s got something else in mind. And the something else in mind — you know, people can’t believe it,” the Post quoted Trump as saying on Fox News Monday morning. “People cannot, they cannot believe that President Obama is acting the way he acts and can’t even mention the words ‘radical Islamic terrorism.’ There’s something going on. It’s inconceivable. There’s something going on.”
“He doesn’t get it or he gets it better than anybody understands — it’s one or the other, and either one is unacceptable.”
Trump does have a point; he didn’t go so far as to “suggest” that Obama was involved. Maybe “insinuate” is a better word? No matter, the Post headline has changed anyway. It now reads, “Donald Trump seems to connect President Obama to Orlando shooting.” But the damage has been done. WaPo now joins several other outlets that have been banned from Trump events.
Trump's banned news orgs include: Wash Post, Politico, BuzzFeed, Huff Post, Daily Beast, DM Register, Union Leader, Univision, Fusion & more
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) June 13, 2016
To show how unprecedented this move is, a reporter mentions controversial president Richard Nixon:
Worth noting that even during the height of Watergate, Nixon never banned the Washington Post from the White House
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) June 13, 2016
The Washington Post’s editor, Marty Baron, remains defiant, saying that Trump’s attempt to chip away at freedom of the press will not succeed. He says in a statement:
“Donald Trump’s decision to revoke The Washington Post’s press credentials is nothing less than a repudiation of the role of a free and independent press,” Baron wrote in a statement. “When coverage doesn’t correspond to what the candidate wants it to be, then a news organization is banished. The Post will continue to cover Donald Trump as it has all along – honorably, honestly, accurately, energetically, and unflinchingly. We’re proud of our coverage, and we’re going to keep at it.”
Baron was the Boston Globe’s editor when that newspaper’s Spotlight team broke the Catholic Church molestation scandal in 2002. The investigation became an award-winning film last year, and Esquire considers Baron the “best news editor of all time.” It’s therefore hard to believe that Trump’s move will intimidate Baron, and hurt the Washington Post’s coverage of him.
Maybe Washington Post reporters will not go to rallies as “spectators.” Certainly they’ll continue to turn on the TV and quote Trump from his appearances on Fox News and other channels. Meanwhile, Trump will get to enjoy the fact that he’s even worse than Richard Nixon in his treatment of the press. This also goes to show how little he tolerates people interpreting his vague statements in the way he probably meant them to be interpreted.
(via Politico and Washington Post)