Jeffrey Blehar writes for National Review Online about President Donald Trump’s latest tirade.
On Friday, fresh off a rebuke from the court about any potential surprise demolition of the Kennedy Center — and with Susie Wiles out of town — our emotionally incontinent president took to his favorite forum to lash out against an easy and predictable target, the mainstream media. From atop his mighty perch on Truth Social, Trump thundered:
“I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW (who recently changed their name from MSNBC due to lack of viewership and credibility!), and Politico (The recipients of an illegal and ridiculous $8 Million Dollar subscription, an All Time Record, directly from the United States Government, under Crooked Joe Biden, in order to keep them “alive.” Seems like corruption to me!), from the White House as a result of their constant “reporting” FAKE NEWS! Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America. Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP”
The next day, the ban went into effect and journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico were barred from White House grounds. What did they do to provoke Trump’s special wrath this time? Nobody knows! Exist is my guess. They are a target of convenience — left-coded enough that Trump thinks he can kick them like dogs to his satisfaction while basking in the cheers of his MAGA faithful. …
… It’s also important to stress that Trump intends this as a humiliation ritual. … The ban is meant merely to send a public message of disgrace to these outlets and imply a warning to the rest: Behave well, or else.
The media, to their credit, have called Trump’s bluff: In what the New York Times labels an “extraordinary escalation,” every major television network — including Fox News — agreed to suspend pool coverage of the president.
