People on Twitter were speculating that it must be raining today at Donald Trump’s golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, due to how much tweeting the President has done since around 5:30 AM his time. Most believe that when Trump goes on a “tweetstorm,” he’s actually in fear that something big is about to happen.
The first of those tweets, however, was seemingly one that just echoes how arrogant the President is, with his designation of the media as “fake.” He tweeted about a recent meeting he had with the publisher of the New York Times, and characterized it as a discussion in which the two talked about how much fake news there is — as though A.G. Sulzberger agreed that much of the news was fake.
Had a very good and interesting meeting at the White House with A.G. Sulzberger, Publisher of the New York Times. Spent much time talking about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, “Enemy of the People.” Sad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018
If it seems odd to you that the publisher of the world’s largest and most widely-read newspaper would agree with Donald Trump about the media being the “enemy of the people,” you’re not alone. It seemed that way to Sulzberger as well.
The president reached out to our publisher to talk. The president’s aides requested it to be off the record, which our publisher abided. The president broke his own agreement this morning. So here’s what happened, according to A.G. Sulzberger: https://t.co/wAglYTG9Zo
— Katie Rogers (@katierogers) July 29, 2018
Trump actually thinks he can have it both ways — that he can demand something be “off the record” and then go ahead and talk about it himself while misrepresenting what actually happened. Unfortunately for Trump, other people have Twitter accounts as well:
Statement of A.G. Sulzberger, Publisher, The New York Times, in response to President Trump’s tweet about their meeting https://t.co/N6soZfxQZ7 pic.twitter.com/W9mFxCF0tp
— NYTimes Communications (@NYTimesPR) July 29, 2018
The press release from the publisher was far more direct about what was discussed:
My main purpose for accepting the meeting was to raise concerns about the president’s deeply troubling anti-press rhetoric. I told the president directly that I thought that his language was not just divisive but increasingly dangerous. I told him that although the phrase ‘fake news’ is untrue and harmful, I am far more concerned about his labeling journalists ‘the enemy of the people.’ I warned that this inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence.”
Thanks, A.G. That’s actually how the rest of us feel as well.
Featured image via composite
