In the decade that Donald Trump has been in politics, he has distinguished himself as the most media averse president of all time. He has taken unprecedented actions to censor the free press, insulted journalists for doing their jobs, and whined incessantly about his paranoid perception of being a victim of what he routinely calls the “fake news.”
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Recently Trump was ticked off by a segment on Meet the Press during which the host, Kristen Welker, accurately pointed out that Trump’s record of endorsements was a “mixed bag” due to many of his preferred candidates losing their primary races. In response to Welker’s reporting Trump proposed a vengeful penalty that he has no legal authority to dispense.
SEE THIS: Wannabe Fascist Dictator Trump is Reporting Meet the Press Host to His FCC – For ‘Punishment’?
Trump’s proposal was typical of his hyperactive overreach that demonstrates his ignorance of, and disrespect for, the Constitution and its First Amendment protection for the free press. Neither he nor his FCC have any jurisdiction to punish journalists, particularly when they are right.
On Sunday morning Trump and his nursemaid, Natalie Harp, were busy with what he regards as his primary presidential duties of posting goofy memes on his failing Twitter ripoff, Truth Social. They included AI slopix of himself horseback riding with George Washington, Robert De Niro with a Trump t-shirt, renaming New Mexico to New America, Joe Biden in a Trump hat, Trump as Hulk Hogan, and 31 more deranged fantasies. I sure hope hope it doesn’t cut into his golf game.
Meanwhile, Trump’s FCC boss, Brendan Carr, was on Fox News doing what he does best: disseminating Trumpist propaganda. Carr was interviewed by Fox’s Peter Doocy who asked whether Trump had actually reported Welker to him for her punishment. Carr began his reply with a tediously long word salad that had nothing to do with the question. But he eventually weaved his way back to provide an answer that came a little closer to being responsive.
“There is a lot of interest right now in fake polls that are out there. So the FCC may put guidance out soon to remind broadcasters about their obligations with respect to not airing fake polls. Particularly if they’re done to suppress people heading into the fall.”
FCC Chair Brendan Carr on Trump calling for Kristen Welker to receive "punishment" for accurately saying he has a mixed record on endorsements: "I think President Trump is over the target, and we are looking at a lot of actions"
WTF is he talking about? The FCC has no role whatsoever in the collection of data, or subsequent results of, public polling. It cannot make determinations as to whether they are accurate or fake. And it definitely can’t enforce any sort of “guidance” as to how they are conducted or reported. The FCC is not an official censorship agency that can muzzle the media. Particularly if it’s done to suppress information from people heading into the fall.
Broadcasters have no “obligations” as to how they report polls, outside of their own standards and practices set by their editors and executives. The worst parties to assume that authority would be those in government. That’s how dictatorships control the media and suppress the freedom that American journalists have had for 250 years.
Trump and Carr are behaving like the tyrannical despots they admire in Russia, China, and North Korea. However, the only people that should be subject to punishment are Trump and his White House flunkies who are violating the Constitution.
Trump’s obsession with what he calls fake polls stems from his knowledge that those polls are accurate. And illegally obstructing broadcasters from reporting on them doesn’t change the facts that they represent. Trump and his criminal regime are broadly despised and they are going down.
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- ABC Accuses Trump’s Fascist Communications Commission (FCC) of Violating the First Amendment
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- Big Baby Trump Flees Like a Frightened Fowl From Scary Meet the Press Host Kristen Welker
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