One of the things our nation was founded on was our right to free speech, which includes freedom of the press. Now, President Trump has taken away that constitutional right by banning 5 News Organizations from attending the White House press briefing on Friday. Note: Fox News was not one of them.
Donald Trump has expressed his hatred of the media for quite some time but this takes it to a whole new level in terms of the war against the media. He has stated that the media is "the enemy of the American people" and can't be trusted. By enemy, he is referring to the New York Times, NBC, ABC, CBS and CNN, which he considers to be fake news.
The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2017
Trump's Twitter rant
On the day he barred the news organizations, he also gave a speech at the CPAC and further attacked the media, calling them dishonest multiple times. Then, of course, Trump brought his complaints to Twitter and went on a rant about the media.
FAKE NEWS media knowingly doesn't tell the truth. A great danger to our country. The failing @nytimes has become a joke. Likewise @CNN. Sad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2017
Basically, he is mad at any news organizations that speak out against him and criticize his presidency.
People were tolerating his remarks against the media before but actually barring some of the press unleashed more anger.
Cue the protests
People everywhere have been voicing their support for the American press, and on Sunday, yet another protest broke out in NYC. A large crowd stood outside the New York Times' Manhattan headquarters, one of the news organizations that Trump blocked.
People started chanting, “When The New York Times is under attack, what do we do? We stand up! Fight back!"
Astounding chants here at the protest. "When @nytimes is under attach what do we do?""STAND UP FIGHT BACK" @BBCBreaking @politico @ABC @CNN pic.twitter.com/ttoZJ21nmi
— Sarah Maslin Nir (@SarahMaslinNir) February 26, 2017
Protestors went on to march to the offices of Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, and then to NBC’s headquarters before eventually returning to 8th Avenue.
It is clear, Americans will not stand to be silenced and will continue to fight back until we win the war against the media.
Several people at the protest were holding the Sunday edition of the New York Times, which had a full-page advertisement that read, “Truth. It’s more important now than ever.”
Journalists from The New York Times, CNN and Politico were barred from attending a White House briefing https://t.co/XBVmXIIxUG pic.twitter.com/STFHTJwvPX
— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 24, 2017
What was your reaction to Trump's announcement on Friday?
