The most anti-free press regime in American history, led by Donald “The Media is the Enemy of the People” Trump, is once again proving how out of touch it is with the principles of the Constitution and its First Amendment prohibition against “abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.”
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When Donald Trump made Pete Hegseth his Secretary of “War,” he was installing a flunky who he knew would obey his every command, no matter how averse to the law or morality. And Hegseth proved his fealty to Trump last month when he issued a decree demanding that the press must swear a Trumpian loyalty oath before being allowed access to the Pentagon or to military leaders who work for the American people. It was such a repugnant proposal that even Trump was against it when he first heard about it.
SEE THIS: Trump Smacks Down His Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Over His Loyalty Pledge on the Free Press
Of course, Trump, in his perpetual state of ignorance and/or dementia, likely had no idea what the new rules imposed by Hegseth meant. But they were consistent with his twisted mindset, believing that he can dictate what the media reports about him. The mandate that Hegseth imposed on the press forbids them to do any investigative reporting, interviewing, or to publish any stories that haven’t been pre-approved by Hegseth’s Pentagon overlords.
Under this decree, reporters would be required to have an approved Pentagon escort when in the building. And should they refuse to sign the oath, they risk losing their press credentials. Hegseth claimed that the new rules boiled down to three tenets:
- The press no longer roams free. Hegseth’s explicit dismissal of the free press.
- The press must wear visible badges. Unlike Trump’s badgeless, masked ICE thugs.
- Credentialed press is no longer permitted to solicit criminal acts. Which they have never been permitted to do.
When a government agency threatens to revoke the credentials of news organizations that don’t obey their edicts, you don’t have a free press. You have a fascist dictatorship that obviously has some very troubling things to hide. Consequently, Hegseth’s decree was roundly rejected. Several major news outlets condemned the new rules and refused to sign. They include ABC News, CBS News, CNN, NBC News, Associated Press, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Reuters, The Atlantic, and NPR.
Even the ultra-MAGA outlets Newsmax and the Washington Times declined to sign. The shamelessly Trump-fluffing One America News Network (OAN) is the only outlet that, so far, has agreed to go along with Hegseth’s Hegemony. And surprisingly, Fox News, Hegseth’s previous employer, was one of those that would not sign on. That’s gotta sting. In a joint statement, the resisting media said that…
“Today, we join virtually every other news organization in declining to agree to the Pentagon’s new requirements, which would restrict journalists’ ability to keep the nation and the world informed of important national security issues.
“The policy is without precedent and threatens core journalistic protections. We will continue to cover the U.S. military as each of our organizations has done for many decades, upholding the principles of a free and independent press.”
It will be interesting to see if Hegseth and the Pentagon stick to this censorious initiative. Or if Trump bothers to weigh in. In the meantime, they have affirmed just how much they despise the free press. And considering everything they have to hide – including Trump’s lawlessness, his administration’s massively unpopular agenda, and of course, the infamous Jeffrey Epstein files – it’s no wonder they hate even the thought of a free press.
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