{"id":36416,"date":"2017-12-08T14:46:34","date_gmt":"2017-12-08T22:46:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=36416"},"modified":"2017-12-08T15:00:23","modified_gmt":"2017-12-08T23:00:23","slug":"heres-how-donald-trumps-fake-news-smears-have-emboldened-the-worlds-tyrants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=36416","title":{"rendered":"Here’s How Donald Trump’s ‘Fake News’ Smears Have Emboldened the World’s Tyrants"},"content":{"rendered":"

The campaign to discredit the media has been a prominent part of Donald Trump’s mission for several months. He is an avowed foe of the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of the press. He said that the media is “the enemy of the American people<\/a><\/strong>,”<\/em> and has called for revoking the licenses<\/a><\/strong> of press organizations he doesn’t like. Setting aside the fact that he has no power to do that, just the desire exposes his dangerously tyrannical aspirations.<\/p>\n

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By attacking the press so relentlessly, and without foundation, Trump has demonstrated that his words have an impact<\/a><\/strong> on the glassy-eyed disciples who worship him. Forty-six percent of Republicans now agree with Trump that he should be allowed to shut down any media that isn’t unquestioningly adoring. That’s the effect a loudmouthed wannabe dictator can have on the gullible masses.<\/p>\n

However, this presages an even a bigger and more ominous problem. Politico has aggregated<\/a><\/strong> some of the evidence that Trump’s suppressive rhetoric is capable of damaging freedom of speech and the press around the world. The article quotes numerous foreign leaders with authoritarian tendencies adopting Trump’s anti-media philosophy. They are joining in the chant of “fake news”<\/em> to demean any criticism they receive from the press. For instance:<\/p>\n