Since last week President Trump has been on a continuous Twitter rampage against the media, calling journalists the “enemy of the people” adding, “they can also cause war! They are very dangerous and sick!” Trump’s attacks on the media are hardly surprising and have been an integral part of his political rhetoric since the beginning of his administration, so White House counselor, Kellyanne Conway's defense of the Fourth Setate comes as a surprise.
When asked to discuss the president’s tweets on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Conway said Trump was just referring to “some reporters” who she said, “aren’t always telling the truth.” However, she did later say that journalists are “not an enemy of the people. I think some journalists are enemy of the relevant and enemy of the news you can use.”
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But Conway made it clear that the press is biased when reporting on the president choosing not to cover the president’s political successes but only his failures. She asked host, Margaret Brennan, why more reporters did not cover the vice president receiving the remains of the fallen American troops in North Korea. “Well we covered it here,” Brennan responded.
Last Thursday, Ivanka Trump, claimed she did not have as the same dislike of the media that her father has. When asked by Axios whether she said a similar vitriol for the news media she said, “I do not.”
“I’ve certainly received my fair share of reporting on me personally that I know not to be fully accurate, so I have some sensitivity around why people have concerns and gripe, especially when they’re sort of targeted,” Ms. Trump said. “But no, I do not feel that the media is the enemy of the people.”
Trump responded to the interview on Twitter with, “They asked my daughter Ivanka whether or not the media is the enemy of the people. She correctly said no. It is the FAKE NEWS, which is a large percentage of the media, that is the enemy of the people!”
They asked my daughter Ivanka whether or not the media is the enemy of the people. She correctly said no. It is the FAKE NEWS, which is a large percentage of the media, that is the enemy of the people!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 2, 2018
Recently, the president’s atatcks against the press have become more inflamed. During his political rallies he has shared his anger towards the media in front of his supporters. During a Pennsylvania rally last week he claimed the media is "fake, fake disgusting news" and cast them as the political opponent to his presidency. The crowd started to chant, “CNN sucks!”only minutes into the rally. At the same time as Conway’s interview, Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton defended Trump's anti-media tweet on his interview with "Fox News Sunday," saying, "that's the President's view based on the attacks the media have made on him." Bolton tried to downplay the president’s assaults, saying, "the issue of press bias has been around for a long, long time," and added, "I think this kind of adversarial relationship is typical."
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