Trump doesn’t hate news media for the reasons you think
The celebrity president has a celebrity mindset
Trump’s fascistic tendencies have been exposed nowhere more than in his treatment of journalists. His presidency began with a declaration of the media as “enemies of the people.” He points journalists out at rallies, encouraging people to heckle and jeer at them. Last week, he endorsed physically assaulting reporters. Yesterday, he complained that Saudi Arabian prince Mohammed Bin Salman should have done a better job covering up the murder of a Washington Post reporter. He’s threatened to change laws in order to expose journalists to prosecution. At every turn, Trump cannot resist the urge to smear our free press.
Other politicians have hated the press. Nixon is the most prominent example. He once referred to the press as “merchants of hate.” But politicians, even Nixon, have known better than to call for jailing reporters — let alone celebrating their dismemberment in the basement of a foreign embassy. To understand Trump’s particular persecution complex as it manifests toward journalists, you must first understand Trump as something other than a politician.
