Trump attacks media again right after Sanders says he condemns violence

Right after White House press secretary Sarah Sanders claimed Trump does nothing but condemn violence against journalists or anyone else, Trump attacked CNN on Twitter, using language associated with violence.

A white nationalist who was plotting to kill Democratic lawmakers and members of the media often criticized by Trump was recently arrested. Sanders was asked by reporters if Trump would tone down his rhetoric, and if his language had anything to do with this type of violence.

Sanders said Trump hasn’t done anything but “condemn violence against journalists or anyone else.”

“In fact, every single time something like this happens, the president is typically one of the first people to condemn the violence,” she said.

But soon after Sanders made this statement, Trump proved her to be a liar by attacking CNN.

“Fake News is so bad for our Country!” Trump tweeted in reference to another person on Twitter attacking CNN.

A.G. Sulzberger, publisher of the New York Times, recently criticized Trump for his dangerous rhetoric attacking the free press. “As I have repeatedly told President Trump face to face, there are mounting signs that this incendiary rhetoric is encouraging threats and violence against journalists at home and abroad,” Sulzberger wrote.

The violence-inducing rhetoric is not simply theoretical; Trump supporters physically attacked the press earlier this month. At a campaign rally in El Paso, a MAGA-hat wearing Trump supporter yelled, “Fuck the media” and physically assaulted BBC reporter Ron Skeans.

“The crowd had been whipped up into a frenzy against the media by Trump and other speakers all night,” BBC reporter Eleanor Montague, who was next to Skeans, said about the incident.

Trump not only incites violence against the media, he has yet to publicly condemn the white supremacist Sanders was asked about. But Trump has found time to tweet about wireless technology, his obsession with a border wall, and now an attack on the free press since the man was arrested.

Trump makes his priorities clear: He would rather incite violence against the free press than condemn a man who — inspired by Trump — was seeking to murder members of the same free press.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.