Donald Trump has steadfastly refused to accept even one iota of responsibility for the horrific terrorist attacks and hate crimes that have taken place across the country over the last week, and it has led some to wonder whether he is willfully ignoring his own influence or whether he simply doesn’t see his constant attacks on the people who have actually been violently attacked as an issue worth addressing.
Unfortunately, it’s plain to anyone who understands either cause and effect or the clear English of the terrorists who carried out the attacks and specifically cited the President’s influence that he is not just partially, but mostly to blame.
Today Sarah Sanders held a press briefing that of course turned to the attacks and to the fact that Trump continues even today to attack the press on his Twitter account — despite CNN receiving more than one pipe bomb during Cesar Sayoc’s reign of terror.
There is great anger in our Country caused in part by inaccurate, and even fraudulent, reporting of the news. The Fake News Media, the true Enemy of the People, must stop the open & obvious hostility & report the news accurately & fairly. That will do much to put out the flame…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2018
….of Anger and Outrage and we will then be able to bring all sides together in Peace and Harmony. Fake News Must End!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2018
As one might expect, the reporter who has essentially become the de facto spokesman for CNN, Jim Acosta, took Sanders to task over the President’s refusal to acknowledge his impact on the violent extremists who carried out these attacks in his name.
And as you might equally expect, Sanders pushed back strenuously, citing completely unrelated events and totally incomparable circumstances — but Acosta just wasn’t having it.
Can you state for the record which outlets that you and the President regard as ‘the enemy of the people.’ Would that include my outlet, which received a bomb last week?”
After deflections from Sanders, Acosta pushed on:
If the President is going to say the ‘fake news media’ are the enemy of the people, and if you’re going to stand there and continue to say that there are some journalists, some news outlets in this country that meet that characterization, shouldn’t you have the guts, Sarah, to state which outlets, which journalists are the enemy of the people?”
Sarah Sanders, of course, would not answer him because the administration can continue to skate around the edges of inciting their followers to violence so long as no one they’ve specifically named gets attacked after they continue to stoke hate against the media in general.
Watch this brave exchange here:
Featured image via screen capture
