Trump Demands Recall Of ‘New York Times’ And ‘Washington Post’ Pulitzer For Mueller Coverage
In the wake of the Mueller investigation winding down without issuing any more indictments, President Donald Trump has called for Pulitzer Prizes won by The New York Times and The Washington Post for their coverage of the probe to be revoked. According to a report from Politico, following Trump’s campaign rally in Michigan, the president tweeted criticism of the Russiagate coverage by both newspapers, and called for the Pulitzer committee to consider rescinding the awards, suggesting that, based on the newspapers’ coverage, they were either “duped or corrupt.”
“So funny that The New York Times & The Washington Post got a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage (100% NEGATIVE and FAKE!) of Collusion with Russia – And there was No Collusion! So, they were either duped or corrupt? In any event, their prizes should be taken away by the Committee!” Trump tweeted Friday night.
Trump has lately been on a tear against the media and Democrats in the wake of Attorney General William Barr’s four-page summary of the report by special counsel Robert Mueller, in which Barr revealed that there would be no more indictments forthcoming from Mueller’s investigation. Although the full report has yet to be released and despite the report explicitly saying that while it doesn’t accuse the president of a crime, “it also does not exonerate him,” Trump has taken every opportunity to call it a “complete vindication” and use it to redouble his criticism of the media.
Donald Trump Jr. later retweeted his father, adding the hashtag #fakenews and suggesting the Pulitzer committee gave the award in the wrong category – while incorrectly using an apostrophe himself.
He’s right… unless they give Pulitzer’s for fiction. #fakenews https://t.co/TN5CE84tvw
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 29, 2019
The two newspapers were awarded a joint Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for their ongoing coverage of the Mueller investigation, and for delving into the purported connections between various people who worked on the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and international figures with supposed connections of their own to the Kremlin.
For its part, The New York Times responded via Twitter, expressing pride in the institution, its staff, and its coverage of the 22-month probe, adding that it continues to stand by every article the president referenced in his critique.
We're proud of our Pulitzer-prize winning reporting on Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. Every @nytimes article cited has proven accurate. https://t.co/NvG27oeuNv
— NYTimes Communications (@NYTimesPR) March 30, 2019
Trump has frequently been critical of the press in general, but he appears to have reserved special vitriol for the two award-winning newspapers. As recently as February 20 of this year, he called The New York Times the “enemy of the people” via Twitter. He has also accused the owner of The Washington Post, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, of employing the newspaper as a “lobbyist weapon against Congress to keep Politicians from looking into Amazon no-tax monopoly.”
