By Isabella Rosario
On Feb. 17, President Trump tweeted, “The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!” And even Republicans aren’t happy.
Of all the controversial comments Trump has made in the past year and a half, the ramifications of this one in particular are uniquely dangerous. Since the term “fake news” has emerged as a buzzword from this past election season, the president has certainly not shied away from using it in everything from press conferences to late-night Twitter rants. Many, including the comedians of “Saturday Night Live” (who have been blessed with a myriad of quality material lately — glass half-full?), have mocked Trump’s administration for using the term as a scapegoat moniker for critical news organizations. But this individual comment is not one to be taken lightly. By explicitly demonizing the media as the public’s enemy, Trump has not only undermined one of the prime institutions that makes America great, he has blatantly disrespected the First Amendment.I am the proud daughter and granddaughter of immigrants. In the 1970s, my family decided to flee recently declared martial law in the Philippines and immigrate to the United States. Ruling by decree, President Ferdinand E. Marcos detained countless journalists and activists at military labor compounds and closed down opposing media establishments. For immigrants like them who once lived under a government that persecuted outspoken citizens, Trump’s recent vilification of the media is something that rings all-too-familiar bells. And as many journalists have pointed out in the last few days, one of the earliest acts of dictatorship in Nazi Germany was seizing control of newspapers and eventually executing journalists who spoke out. Of course, Trump’s tweet is not an immediate indication of authoritarian dictatorship. However, it is historically evident that press censorship is the mark of an unhealthy and dangerous political climate. That Trump’s recent tweet has not only shown a complete disregard for the importance of a free press but gone so far as to call it the public’s “enemy” indicates a slippery slope toward a society that is anything but American.
Politicians and journalists on both sides of the political aisle have publicly condemned Trump’s recent comments, from ABC News’ Jon Karl to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Fox News anchor Chris Wallace recently stated this sort of rhetoric “crosses an important line.” Harking back to Obama’s presidency, the critical political commentator made a crucial point: “Barack Obama whined about Fox News all the time, but I’ve gotta say: He never said we were an enemy of the people.”
This distinction is what makes Trump’s statement so troubling. American presidents usually aren’t cozy with the press, an institution designed to hold them accountable. But never before has a president so flagrantly discounted the press’ duty to American citizens by vilifying it — at least publicly. A taped conversation once caught former President Richard Nixon telling the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, “The press is your enemy.”
In these divisive times, I feel it is imperative that other politicians at the state and local levels make it clear to their constituents that the media are necessary components to our democracy — even if they don’t always show officials in the best light. I am proud to be an American citizen, a daughter and granddaughter of people who believed so strongly in the power of free speech they decided to make a life here. Karl said it best: The free press is “a big part of what makes America great.”
