White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said Sunday that she does not belive that “journalists are the enemy of the people,” contradicting president Donald Trump’s earlier statements, The Hill reports.
After Donald Trump caused another firestorm by accusing the media of being “the enemy of the people” via Twitter , government officials, the media, and the public alike pushed back, in an effort to defend journalism and de-escalate the tensions between the media and the White House.
President Trump, however, has not backed down. Earlier today, again via Twitter , the POTUS reaffirmed that he does indeed believe the media to be the enemy of the American people, accusing journalists of creating division, and distrust.
“They can also cause War! They are very dangerous & sick!” Trump concluded. Apart from the public, government officials have come out in support of the press, some of the president’s closest confidants included. For instance, as the Inquisitr reported this week, the president’s daughter and White House adviser, Ivanka Trump, publicly stated that she does not consider the media to be an enemy of the American people.
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway seems to have joined other government officials in opposing Trump’s views on the press. According to The Hill , Conway said the following.
“I don’t believe journalists are the enemy of the people. I think some journalists are the enemy of the relevant and the enemy of the news you can use.”
Kellyanne Conway: “I don’t believe journalists are the enemy of the people” https://t.co/PCJE4NDUET pic.twitter.com/e3NVPE3qCA
— The Hill (@thehill) August 5, 2018
Trump’s White House counselor also added that she believes “the temperature needs to be dialed down overall.”
Donald Trump’s war with the media has “deadly implications,” according to The Guardian ‘s Simon Tisdall. The president’s attacks on the press could create an atmosphere in which journalists are in danger, Tisdall argued in an op-ed, adding that Trump – while not subjected to a higher degree of scrutiny than his predecessors – has expanded the term “fake news” to include any news that don’t sit well with him.
President Trump, therefore, is the commander-in-chief who wants to be editor-in-chief, Tisdall concluded.
“Regimes like that in Russia, where inquisitive journalists die suddenly, or in Turkey, where they are jailed in large numbers, look at Trump’s reckless shenanigans and see a green light for repression. His unpresidential message to independent voices everywhere: ‘Shut it or else.’”
While Kellyanne Conway may or may not believe that journalists are the enemy of the people, President Trump appears to. That, according to The Guardian’ s Simon Tisdall, is a problem that cannot and should not be ignored.
