Trump's remarks represent ONE instance where he referred to journalists as Americans. How can he reverse the increasingly menacing tone towards journalists of his rallies?
He can apologize. He can say he has been wrong. He can say that he now realizes that his rhetoric at his rallies can lead to the crime of murder. Murder of Americans by Americans. He can amplify this message, and repeat it, and say it again, and find new ways to pound the message home.
Can he? Will he? Maybe now, with his Party possibly losing badly to Democrats in the midterms. Maybe. We'll see!
1
Calling journalists enemies sounds like and Islamic fatwa or call to arms. Very troubling indeed!
8
Trump hasn't moderated anything. He'll be back to calling journalists enemy of the people and urging his followers to commit violence. This little passage was written for him in an attempt to convince people he isn't the complete psychopath that he is. Enough. Just stop trying to pretend he is sane.
9
"President Trump condemned the deadly newsroom shooting in Maryland, declaring on Friday that “journalists, like all Americans, should be free from the fear of being violently attacked while doing their jobs.”
Then, Mr. President, STOP CALLING JOURNALISTS "ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE" which tends to instill in some sick citizens a desire to go shoot journalists dead. YOU are part of the problem, and you have blood on your hands.
“We pledge our eternal support,” the president said, adding, “My government will not rest until we have done everything in our power to reduce violent crime and to protect innocent life.”
Until you have done EVERYTHING? Then get Betsy Devos to study guns in schools, allow the CDC to study gun deaths and injuries, enact reasonable gun control, and STOP VILIFYING THOSE YOU DON'T AGREE WITH. Your hostility and name calling and open disdain for most every group in America leads to this type of tragedy. Again, Mr. President, YOU HAVE BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS!
6
A man who lies as much as he breathes, expresses the "warmest best wishes and regrets," can't even fake empathy. He is disgusting. "My government will not rest..."? This is not a business. He is not the CEO. He is supposed to be the president of ALL Americans. What a fraud.
5
He does not see the harm he has done with his sermon's of hate and his cheering on violence.
3
At every single turn, the media has been played by Donald J Trump! This is not business as usual with this president yet, the media keeps treating this as something that is "normal." Trump is not a child! He is a full grown adult who like to attack private citizens and corporations. Yet, the news media has become his PR arm which only further the attacks. This President likes to see his name in print and NYT - you NYT oblige him! Do we really need to know every tweet this man utters? Do we? If so, then the media needs to fact check him on EVERY single tweet!
3
This vile man accepts responsibility for nothing. He whips up hatred, he condemns, others take violent action, and he then distances himself. Ironic that he presents himself as a perpetual victim when he is in fact a cowardly victimizer.
5
"The press is the enemy of the people" – President Donald Trump
Do we need to know more?
4
As I sit here watching "The Handmaid's Tale" for the first time, I am overwhelmed by the specter of an America overrun by insane, immoral zealots. The very real, very scary image of Trump/Pence overwhelms the senses.
America has lost all claim to any moral superiority on the world stage. The kidnapping of infants and children, the Nazi-like roundups of those seeking refuge from certain death -- they have made us the equivalent of war criminals.
Henceforth we shall have no right to criticize N Korea, China, Venezuela, Congo, Iran or any other criminal authoritarian state. We are them, at least until we can rid ourselves of Trump and his disgusting followers and reaffirm what first made America the shining g star of liberty in previous generations. VOTE!
8
“This attack shocked the conscience of our nation and filled our hearts with grief” - Trump
A very odd choice of words from a man devoid of concience, with no awareness of the nation or its people, and without a heart.
More thoughts and prayers. I'm not buying it.
Every time this goober tries to be sincere my skin crawls.
4
I suspect his tone will revert to its usual vileness within the next day or two. If not sooner.
4
As in so many ways, this administration is awash in blood. The temper tone, and substance of the buffoonery coming from the white house, and the goose-stepping -in -line republican neo-fascists that support him, and his agenda, will eventually have to answer for their crimes.
3
Trump, you and your detestable ilk unleashed this horror and you own it.
Here in Maine, our detestable governor opined a few years ago it would be nice to bomb a local newspaper after an uncomplimentary cartoon. (The cartoonist's teenage son was in the audience.)
5
" My government..." clearly a Freudian slip, folks!
3
For tempering his comments on the senseless deaths of five newspaper employees, Trump probably thinks he’s in line for a Pulitzer Prize for community service.
4
Trump `tempers' his media hostility. Big deal. Soon his know-nothing supporters will be calling the dead and wounded `actors'.
3
Oh, wait. so the Media is only the enemy of the people up to the point of a member of said media being murdered. I get it now. #jokeofapresident
2
Stop with the empty thoughts and prayers and do something about it!
2
Donald Trump, as usual is talking out of the other side of his mouth. Yadda, yadda, yadda. You can not trust anything this fool says. He hates the media because they tell the truth about him and his merry band of cohorts.
But please trust that his July meeting with Putin will be very beneficial for Putin.
3
Trump is just mouthing words about the tragedy of the Gazette shooting.He has not learned and never will that words have consequences and they cannot be retracted.He throws around insults like confetti- as long as his "base" base cheers he will keep up his nasty drumbeat.He tries to trash all of our heroes- FBI, Justice Department, and the free and hard working press.They are the bulwark of our democracy-every day we cheer for them.It is so sad that some of our heroes lost their lives.
6
Doing her part to help reunite thousands of children separated from their parents, some possibly for good, Hillary Clinton has raised $1.5 million. She continues to work for the good of others, public service. She's not running for office; it's not a political stunt or photo op. Compare that to the traitor in the White House whose only service is to himself, to enrich and glorify himself. Is this "news" about journalists being human supposed to be another "presidential" moment that we're to rejoice over?
10
Crocodile condolences!
8
Please, just stop it. Stop riding the Trump rollercoaster. After years of threats and encouraging extreme hostility to the media and physical violence against those he doesn’t like, this is the angle you report on Trump? This is how he won the presidency and continues to use the media as his tool.
6
Hollow or perhaps "fake" words from a man who has put a bullseye on the back of everyone in the mainstream media. The shooter had a grudge against the newspaper, but Donald Trump has fostered a grudge against the "failing" New York Times, CNN, and others that now have to fear for their very lives. The unwillingness to relent in attacking the media and doing anything to control gun violence is despicable, dishonest, and destructive from a man charged with protecting us.
5
DJT: "The press is the enemy of the American people, but if someone should shoot at them, our thoughts and prayers will be with them."
4
Do I blame Trump for this? You bet. From the start of his campaign, he lowered the threshold for violence in the country with each "punch him in the nose" cry, basically igniting an increase in physical and deadly confrontations that has reached epidemic proportions. Calling the news media the "enemy of the people" and complaining about "fake news" on a daily basis (which he has admitted is used so truthful stories won't be believed) only placed an additional target in the sites of the most violent and susceptible among his followers. A pitiful excuse for a human being.
9
I don't believe anything this man says, never have.
9
trump repeatedly accused the media of being "the enemy of the people", with the intent of stirring up his rabid base. It was inevitable that some of them would take trump's "word" as entitlement to murder those in the media whose work they don't approve of. The blood of five Capital Gazette employees is on his tiny hands.
3
We live in a country in which would-be lawyers are taught, in both their torts and criminal law courses, that intent is not as difficult to "prove" as a layman might think, since legal intent may be inferred: people intend the ordinary consequences of their actions.
The current occupant of our nation's highest office should be inferred to have intended, and participated in, exactly what resulted. He hatefully race-baits; he is a grossly disrespectful misogynist; and he habitually encourages the worst possible conduct against any person or group he fantasizes is his enemy-of-the-moment. His loud, narcissistic paranoia seems to encourage those with similar issues to act out in socially inappropriate, and even violent, ways.
Trump's post-massacre platitudes of "comfort" seem about as sincere as any of the rest of his disingenuous words to the huge percentage of this country who see that he is doing an abysmal job. He says what's expected of an effective leader, with his fingers crossed behind his back. No doubt his handlers will try to prevent another incident in which his real sentiments are accidentally "grabbed" by an errant recorder, but stranger things have happened. After all, Tweets happen, and haven't some really fine people have shot up workplaces?
(Heads up to those who would bite MY head off: This last is sarcasm in reference to Trump's words regarding Charlottesville.)
2
Trump holding his tongue from his usual lashings at the media is short-lived, just like the platitudes he offers. Soon, he'll be back to making inflammatory statements, sharing violent images against media - and also doing the NRA's bidding. Lethal combination.
3
Dear New York Ties
Don’t fall for the “Trump is tempering his bullying” meme currently being pushed by his unembarassed fellow bullies and supporters.
He put out that Tweet after being seen scuttling off, literally running away, from press questions about what he had to say about the incident, with a smirk on his face that said “Someone told me I can’t tell them offing a bunch of newspaper workers is a bigly idea.”
He appeared in his true form in that moment as the horrid, evil, frightened-of-the-daylight cockroach that he is.
The “consolation tweet” was put out by someone with a semblance of empathy and human decency, or perhaps just a scintilla of political street smarts, on behalf of a president who has none.
Bullies count on terrorizing their prey, and when called out pretend to either be joking, or “sorry.” They never are either of these two things.
He’s a monster.
5
It seems that once Trump supporters hear something that appeals to them, they believe it and there's no ameliorating the damage done.
Trump is the big Papa - patriarchy at its worst.
7
Yes, yes. It's a common vice amongst Trump supporters. I'm baffled by it, why is it that they cannot believe what is obvious to others? He lies A LOT!
3
Trump will abstain for a few days from demonizing journalists and the press. When this news fades, he will slowly reintroduce his attacks, because the fake MSM will continue to call out his lies and hyperbole, and he will not be able to help himself in a counter attack. This is our man child president.
3
Too late. Trump caged the media at his campaign rallies and then set off the crowd against them, encouraging them to scream at the "worst people" in America as he pointed at the "enemy of the people".
And his legions of Twitter followers got the message and haven't just trolled reporters on social media, they've gone after reporter's families with death threats. Don Lemon and Katy Tur know.
Who can possibly believe Trump now defending the press? What a joke.
10
You notice how the man-child who would be king says "my government "? Hmm. I thought it was "our" government. Increasingly not.
3
In every society there is a struggle between good and evil. However, occasionally good lets down it's defenses and is defeated by evil. To regain control over evil is costly in terms of lives and money. It will cost us a lot to regain what we lost, but the war is on.
1
No president likes the press. Their job is to ask uncomfortable and annoying questions as they fulfill their role in holding our government accountable for its actions. The founders recognized that a free press would ensure that our democracy succeeded. An informed electorate is a powerful electorate.
Trump is the first president to label the press an enemy of the people. With the murder of journalists happening in other less Democratic countries that type of language is dangerous and irresponsible. I'm not saying Trump caused this attack but his language certainly isn't helpful.
1
There's nothing here for Donald to use politically. This appears to have been a fairly small paper that emphasized local coverage, and there wasn't any ideological motive involved. Imagine his tone if the perpetrator had been an illegal immigrant or a Muslim. Then he could use it as an opportunity for some serious pandering. As it stands, there was nothing to gain by being anything other than sympathetic. If there were, he wouldn't hesitate to use it.
Authoritarian leaders do one thing first: attack the press. Then they change regulations to reign-in the press. And, finally, they become the press. Don't leave the continent to find a good contemporary example, just ask Venezuelans living in your town.
You might think, "well, the U.S. Constitution protects freedom of speech and the press." That's right, and that was also the case in Venezuela.
When I went to Venezuela in 2007 to document the closure of Radio Caracas Television (RCTV) the media was starting to feel the undeniable pressure imposed by the government. Today, just eleven years later, Venezuela not only doesn't have freedom of speech and press, it also doesn't have any form of institutional order.
It all starts with beautiful words spoken by egocentric and assertive leaders... then they build legal and physical walls here and there. The insensitive rhetoric becomes the norm. We lose respect for facts, authority, and experts. And then, in a blink of a few years, it is all gone.
It takes great effort, time, and vision to build monumental things, and just a few mistakes to ruin it.
At the end of the day, Trump is not too far from Chávez, or Kim... If you ask me. Just listen to what our president says. Listen carefully. His word choice and lack of direction are impeccably dangerous.
2
There's no need to blame this massacre directly on Trump in order to see what this killer shares with Trump and his supporters: rage, in response to the press's role in publishing the truth, and a conviction that violence is a proper expression of that rage. It's significant that the murderer's rage in this case was rooted in the paper's publication of a story about his harassment of a woman.
Trump is all about defending, and even celebrating, the privileges the powerful enjoy to harass, exploit, plunder, and oppress the weak. He hates the press insofar as they tell the truth about how unjust and cruel that privilege is. His anodyne statements today about protecting journalism are nothing more than the latest round of deeply bad faith lies coming from him.
2
Meant to give credit to Molly Roberts in the Post today for the basic insight that this has to do with rage at truth telling.
Our president didn't pull the trigger, but he sets the tone for our country. The tone he intended to set if elected was apparent in his campaign and enough Republican primary voters and then enough general election voters said, "Yeah, that's the tone I want a president to set." Do those voters still think he's setting the right tone? If not, they need to let him know. Stop going to his rallies. Write or email him and say, "Stop attacking the news media."
1
He "tempers" his hostility. Right. This will last only until the next time he needs that applause line.
1
That's not Trump making those comments. It's the speechwriters. Wait until the weekend. He'll say what he really thinks, and it will be ugly.
3
If, prior to his cowardly attack, this terror and revenge bent shooter had a history of voicing similar comments and threats toward a member of congress, he would have been detained, interrogated, evaluated and possibly "institutionalized." And his firearms would have been confiscated. As it was, given the "protections" the NRA zealously denies on behalf of the safety of ordinary citizens, along with their empty calls for better mental health services, this is what we the people are treated to ... again.
1
I wonder if someone around Trump realized and picked up on the concept that the shooter might theoretically use Trump's rhetoric as part of a defense at trial (insanity defense or otherwise), and they made Trump change course and give the conciliatory statement the next day.
Trump was not in this kind of mood all day yesterday or last night.
It's not unreasonable to predict that the shooter's lawyer might try grasping at any straw in order to turn the trial into a circus, and to try and muck up a jury and get the client off, or pleaded down to something lighter. The "voices on the TV nade in e do it" is an old defense that has been around before. Just sayin'.
1
"No politician will ever get to tell us what the truth is and is not. And anyone who presumes to try to attack or manipulate the press for his own purposes should be made to realize his mistake and to be held to account."
"An American president who cannot take criticism, who must constantly deflect and distort and distract, who must find someone else to blame, is charting a very dangerous path."
"A Congress that does nothing adds to the danger," Arizona's Senator Jeff Flake said.
1
“We pledge our eternal support,” the president said, adding, “My government will not rest until we have done everything in our power to reduce violent crime and to protect innocent life.”
"Your" government? "I" the people? Well, he could start by enforcing the gun regulations already on the books and enacting some sane, common-sense gun laws. That's within "his" power...
1
If there was any accountability left in the US for carnival celebrities, Trump would be fully kicked out. He incited when it brought him votes. He said the '2nd Amendment people would take care of her'. He constantly incited people to criminally condemn her.
His stalking of Clinton from behind on stage during a debate was, alone, grounds for dismissal in any decent forum.
Trump bragged in the media that he could shoot people w/o losing support. Trump is probably averse to violence, but he has no scruples about using low grade rhetoric embracing it in the form of threats his base appreciates.
1
"Vexed relationship" is one way of putting it--a euphemistic way, I'm sorry to say.
Trump's hatred of the press has to stop. It is an affront to our freedoms and endangers people. The hateful behavior at the Trump rallies has to stop as well.
3
Trump's reaction seems disingenuous. He has a habit of condemning news organizations and calling them disrespectful names. Furthermore, whenever a mass shooting occurs, he offers nothing concrete as a realistic solution to the problem.
The only solution is to get rid of most of the guns (300 million is an insane number!), ban all military grade guns for public use, and make owning a gun as restrictive as having a driver's license, subject to regular renewal and strict conditions - for example, anyone with behavior proven to be menacing or threatening to the public peace would have such a license denied.
The gun problem in the United States is out of control. If this president were real with his words, he would start by treating the press in a civilized manner and stop blathering with such promises to do "everything in our power to reduce violent crime and protect innocent life." Until Trump takes concrete action to protect the safety and lives of Americans by reducing and restricting guns, his words are meaningless.
1
When the President of the United States calls the media the "enemy of the American people," expect violence to occur. Trump's reckless, angry response to criticism has given the green light to unhinged people to act out their anger and terrorize the country. George Bush called himself "the decider." Donald Trump is "The inciter."
3
The current president whose name should no longer be mentioned delivered a tepid condolence for the slain journalists. He won't be able to make it through his next rally without resorting to his enemy of the people stance. The usurper must be held accountable for his histrionics. His words inflame his base. We have to refrain from using his name in print, it will drive him bonkers not seeing his brand advertised in the media.
1
Oh, God, why is this even a story?
The media (other than Fox) should stop covering Trump's rallies. What's the point? There is no news to be generated. He'll just keep repeating the same old nonsense he always repeats, and maybe make a new outrageous remark that will garner him more attention. By reporting on him the corporate-owned media is generating sales, while enabling the destruction of the Republic.
6
I do not believe anything Trump says. His cabinet says one thing he says another so there is plenty of views to pick from under Trump. What is not now clear is what he actually believes and where he is heading the country. But you can be sure it is not in the direction of the majority.
10
I just recently read Madelaine Albright's book, Fascism. In particular I remember the chapter on Mussolini. He attacked the press, too. He turned the public against those attempting to cover his actions. History books show what happened in Europe with the rise of those who hated the press. We always think it can't happen here. Are we so sure?
33
Not only can it happen here, it has already happened.
2
One of the prime tenets of any Democracy is a strong and free press that does its job diligently while speaking and questioning truth to power.
In the U.S., that power has (since the beginning of his campaign and right through his Presidency until just days ago) been attacking a select segment of the 4th estate (excluding radically right leaning media outlets) to the point of calling for their physical harm.
These are the results.
33
Too late, Trump. (No honorific for you!) You poisoned the political ether in our USA. You identified Americans who work for newspapers, broadcasting and the Internet as enemies of the people. You put their lives in danger. None of your faked, solemn condolences, thank you. Your vile, disgusting, lethal legacy is set in stone.
56
Not yet set in stone, that is for the artist to do when they replace Lincoln for Trump at the Lincoln Memorial and call it the Trump Memorial.
You applied an honorific by capitalizing his name. He doesn’t even deserve that. He doesn’t even deserve a name. He is a stain and deserves what we do to stains: erasure.
2
“My Government......”. That’s where his problems start. It’s not his government- it’s ours.
49
And add to that that the following promise - to do every thing in OUR power to reduce violent crime --- coming from him sounds like a threat to go beyond legal limits.
10
Naw - it's just the royal plural as in"We are not amused".
I don’t think enough is being said about President Trump’s irresponsible comments towards members of the press and their standing as “enemies of the state.” There is no question that his inflammatory remarks are contributing to ever increasing forces of hostility in our country, and more of us should be talking about it.
41
Trump tempers hostility toward media. Yea, for how long. Wanna make a bet he goes after the press again?
35
What Trump has done and will continue to do is read something after a disaster to calm fears and make himself look presidential, while planning his next attack on those that have been attacked. This is what demagogues do.
2
My bet: he’ll last a day at most before he goes back to demonizing the press.
1
This is, again, the result of too many guns in America. This is behavior legitimized and egged on by the hateful rhetoric of our current administration against the news media so I am not surprised that a news outlet has been targeted...it was only a matter of time given the way our President targets most of the media with his own bully tactics.
24
After repeatedly calling the media *the enemy of the people* Trump now try's to moderate his rhetoric. Too late.
1
No, it's egged on by NRA contributions to Trump and his acolytes.
Hard as it may be to believe, not every bad thing that happens in this country these days, including yesterday's horrific shooting at the Capital Gazette, is Trump's fault. Claiming that it is only buttresses the arguments of those who assert that Trump is criticized unfairly by Democrats and others who oppose him. As far as Trump appearing to be reading from a script when he offered condolences to the victims of yesterday's shooting, at this point I would prefer Trump reading from a script (or even from a telephone book) rather than having to listen to the spew that usually comes out of his mouth when he decides to verbalize whatever disturbing thoughts may happen to be going through his mind at the time.
7
While I sympathize with your point, failing to call him to account when he is palpably and demonstrably one of the factors in terrible event is exactly what he and his supporters want. It is the normalization of his heinous behaviour they seek.
2
We have a bigoted, bullying "President" who every morning spews abuse, insults and accusations against everyone and anyone. He is the "President" for less than half the country – and he seems to be "ok" with that, given his on-going divisive rhetoric, attacking Democrats and independents .
So yes, Trump has set the tone of these times. This is on him.
2
Didn't anyone catch this? True said, My government...' Excuse me BUT it is not his government it is the government of the people of the United States of America.
41
sorry but true is meant to be Trump
Or my generals!
1
It is not right to give Trump credit for tempering his hostility toward media because he managed a sound bite in support of the media after years of savage attacks and inciting insults to the media.
34
So now we are supposed to be pleased that the President of the United States didn't jump up and down and sing, "Oh goodie, dead journalists," which is what we feared he might do. Instead he offered tepid, boilerplate condolences, which, in the context of Donald Trump, should be heralded as a step towards maturity.
Good grief, we need a real President soon.
61
He will doubtless expect all reporters to publicly, loudly, sing his praises in appreciation.
He is welcome to hold his breath while he waits for that to happen.
3
Trump is two-faced. Last night he ignores reporters asking for comment or questions about the murders of their peers - he basically blows their concerns off.
Today, he comes out and does the perfunctory statement, because he has to.
I know what message I get, and so does his base.
41
You give Trump credit for "tempering" his hostility toward the media after one tiny speech after years of savage attacks on one of the most important institutions for our democracy? You have got to be kidding.
46
Trump cannot rewrite his own history of calling for violence against journalists. He cannot "fake news" this one. He and those like him (the Montana Congressman Greg Gianforte who assaulted a reporter and lied about it to the police; the Trump surrogate Milo Yiannopoulos who recently "joked" he hoped vigilantes would start shooting journalists) cannot say "I was just kidding" when calling journalists the "enemies of the people."
Trump's ugly words are recorded. He can't pretend. He can't "walk it back." He and the fellow sociopaths he has surrounded himself with and encouraged to emerge from the shadows don't only just lack empathy -- they genuinely don't care when thousands of small children suffer, when teenagers die in school shootings, when the fourth estate is denigrated and put at risk. They seem to relish it. Trump may be pretending otherwise now, but no matter how many times he tweets "fake news" he shows us daily who he is. The weak (like children), the poor (anyone outside the .1% it seems), and the truth all are as nothing to Trump.
35
I spent 30, uncomfortable, minutes in a waiting room yesterday where I had to listen to these two, old, white guys talk in the most demeaning way about all, young, brown men. I'm not saying Trump invented bigoted opinions but I do blame him for making people feel comfortable blurting out these, hate filled rants, in public, within ear shot of decent people. I liked the world better when these guys were under their rock.
94
I think it’s becoming incumbent upon us white folk to start speaking up in such instances.
3
I recognize this is easier said than done, but could you have politely told them you found what they were saying was offensive and asked them to stop?
White people need to start confronting other white people when they say racist things. You don’t have to use the “r” word...just say that you don’t share those views and you’d rather not hear them.
3
Without the media the man would be nothing. He owes everything to the image he built as a New York playboy and bon vivant, with his notorious womanising detailed in the gossip pages of the NY Post, and his ridiculous reality TV programme. To be honest he plays the media like a maestro, so let him show some restraint this time.
15
Th article correctly points out that Trump has repeatedly vilified the press. It failed to mention that he has also vilified the judges and our system of justice. Apparently a defamation suit against the paper which was dismissed by the court was at the center of the gunman's grievances.
33
Empty words, thoughts and prayers,....his government will do anything in its power.......except confront the gun industry/NRA. Shame.
38
"My government"?
You'll have to wait a few more months for the formal takeover by Russia to call it your government.
As of now, and for the last 242 years, it is "our government."
96
Clearly a Freudian slip, if you know what I mean.
1
The shooter, should he go to trial, has an interesting defense. Trump has spent the past three years (since announcing in June 2015) condemning and vilifying the media, in particular those outfits that don't agree with him or write about his never-ending lies and misdeeds. By branding the media the enemy of the people, and with his constant call for retribution, an already angry and perhaps deranged man has seemingly acted out on Trump's statements of hatred toward the press. Trump can try to backtrack all he wants with his canned/prepared statement of condolence, but he has instigated crowds towards violence for the past few years and now someone has perhaps acted on it.
50
Easy, and probably accurate, to call these statements insincere on Trump’s part.
But credit where credits due, his words were Presidential in the way that we usually hope for, offering a calm and unifying tone.
I’m glad to see he avoided an easy opportunity to further inflame tensions.
5
Just wait.
1
@Gibson: Too little, too late.
“My” government?
It isn’t “your” government, Trump, it is Our Government.
106
Two things can be true at the same time. The murderer probably would have done this no matter what, and Trump’s and his followers’ constant attacks on and threats against the media are despicable and put journalists in danger.
A real president wouldn’t need to call the media “the enemy of the American people.” Only a weak president would do that.
61
Unfortunately what we have is a real weak President. Expect the prevarication, scapegoating, and frenetic overcompensation to continue.
1
I don't necessarily thing that the murderer would have done this no matter what.
1
This total hypocrisy. Lighting up his "amendment 2followers with bullets like "they are the enemy of the nation" and attempting to follow up with conciliatory remarks is not just disingenuous, it's a lie and a callous and vacuous bit of nonsense.
16
Our hideous and cowardly government continues to allow American deaths. Evidently nothing will change until the loved ones of those in power are murdered as well. It's reasonable to believe they're crushing humanity underfoot and preserving the "important" people. If this doesn't galvanize our hearts then nothing will, and consequently, we are also to blame.
12
Too little too late is right. This is the guy who said
“Go back to telemundo” and regularly tells reporters to be quiet and tells them they are the worst when he is told a reporter is from CNN. He encouraged violance on his campaign longing for the old days when you could beat up protesters and carry them out on a stretcher. He often said he wanted to punch people in the face. As for gun control he is a tool of the NRA
38
All during the 20th and 21st centuries the press has reported on the activities of presidents of both political parties without any of them condemning the accurate reporting as fake news. Now we have a braggart and liar who has skin as thick as tissue paper. Any criticism of him is seen as fake or biased.
How can people who have lived through this and voted in more than one presidential election suddenly fall for this made for tv performance? The media is reporting in the same fashion that it has forever. The only change is an incompetent president whose only defense is to blame that same press. He has no facts to support his actions, he only blames the messenger.
24
There is twitter Trump and teleprompter Trump. We know which is the real Trump. The media is the enemy of Trump because they actually use facts.
Milo Yiannopoulos says "I can't wait for vigilante squads to start gunning journalists down on sight", but Maxine Waters is the problem right?
74
This has nothing to do with Trump's relationship to the press. Why not offer a more extensive explanation?
The shooter stalked a woman he was obsessed with. He threatened her with violence when she rejected him. The newspaper published the story. The shooter then became obsessed with the paper and decided to become violent.
2
After suing and threatening this Newspaper he waits five years and suddenly decides to act out.....now what kind of statements could push a person over the edge: "the press are fake news"; "the press are enemies of the people". Just the kind of things a delusional "victim" of the press wants to hear from another delusional "victim" of the press who happens to speak as President of the US.
39
Trump tempering his hostility toward the media will only last as long as it takes until his next tweet.
Whereas the real difference he could make by say, calling for stricter Gun Control Laws will never happen, even though acts like this will continue to happen again and again.
This isn't 'winning'.
29
Too little too late, Trump. Yes, the gunman had a grudge—but until your constant exhortations that the press is the enemy of the people, he had last acted on them, without violence, in 2013.
37
And you think his grudge would have been held in abeyance forever? These kinds of people never give up--don't kid yourself. If not now, later. He should have never had access to a gun--that's the main thing. The legal checks and balances failed.
11
While it may seem like Trump has tempered his words of unprecedented hostility toward the media, the very next news article that he doesn't like he'll be back to bashing the free press. I feel like this article is the print equivalent of "today he became president" statement from CNN's Van Jones. It won't last.
19
Gee, I had projected that the president would "double down" on his criticism of the press as a way of avoiding the appearance that he believed that he had gone too far. Perhaps we should wait for tomorrow's tweet storm.
And remember, there IS a chance that the gunman was NOT spurred on by our president's rhetoric.
2
Warmest and best wishes to the victims family and friends. For sure that is what I always say to people who have lost loved ones. Try that one on Carl Hiasson. I'd sure like to hear his response.
20
Although Trump said the proper words, time will tell if he returns to inciting hatred and violence toward the free press. Ditto with Sanders’ comments that were sadly laughable, given her daily track record of belittling and castigating the press for doing their jobs.
19
Trump "tempers" his hostility towards the media? How about "temporarily suppresses" on the insistence of his advisors?
65
Beating up on the press and even threatening an individual journalist has been a staple of his Nuremberg style rallies since he started campaigning. Now he tells members of the press that they shouldn’t be afraid. He got what everybody expected. Don’t tell me he didn’t expected, too. He should be arrested for inciting violence.
92
I'm all for trump getting everything he has coming for every bit of dirt he's done, but all evidence thus far points to this shooter's having a specific, personal grudge towards the paper, not a generalized hatred of "the enemies of the people."
2
Which he hadn’t acted upon in 5 years.
Hmmm. What has changed since then?
What makes the Republican president think that his verbal attacks on journalists and their employers are okay?
37
The lowest instincts of
people have been
sanctioned by the
evil words
of Trump and
his followers.
A free and truthful
press is an icon
of a free society.
Carry on and know
that you are critical
to democracy.
So much sadness
for the loss of life
yesterday in Annapolis.
39
Ever since Trump became President, there has been one shooting after another.
He spews Hate and minimizing women as objects plus his terrible comments about the press and free speech plus supporting the NRA has all led us to this AGAIN!
WHEN WILL IT BE ENOUGH!
48
What was the nature of the defamation lawsuit filed by the alleged shooter against this newspaper that was dismissed?
Why did the shooter think he was harmed by the paper?
2
Online harassment of a woman.
5
When the judge asked him to identify which statements, if any, that the paper had made that were untrue about his stalking/harassment case, he could not find one. The case was thus dismissed.
8
Don't be lazy. Click some of the links in the story and you'll get the information you're looking for.
6
Any moderation from Trump toward the media is likely to be as ephemeral as winged mayflies are. It's not in his nature to actually care whether or not a mass of people got hurt and killed by another gunman this week. Though to be fair, in this case the shooting probably had little to do with Trump's typical media-bashing. By early next week, he'll be obstreperous and aggressive again, I expect.
32
Trump is reading from a condolence script provided by his communications team—that is all. Does anyone believe this hollow man is capable of normal feelings of empathy? His political campaign, his rallies, his cruel tweets, and his personal history show he takes delight in inflicting pain on others and in mocking their reactions. In a week it will be the same-old attacks on "the enemy of the people" from the dictator's handbook.
167
Yes....anyone want to take bets how long (minutes? hours? days?) before he reverses his stance? I give him 3 days and that's being generous.
7
“We pledge our eternal support,” the president said, adding, “My government will not rest until we have done everything in our power to reduce violent crime and to protect innocent life.”
Right. As long as it doesn't require doing anything about guns, gun availability, gun ownership, or guns.
2
"My government will not rest. . . ." "MY government," he says? Sadly, that labeling is basically true at the moment.
112
At least he isn't praising the murderer as a hero of the people, so maybe that's some progress.
27
His and Milo Yiannopoulos each have a role in hurling vitriols against the free press. Mr. Trump should do more than tone it down, he should come on national tv and apologize and admit that the hate he has spread is destroying our country.
102
That is a nice sentiment, but do you really think he has the capacity for humility?
7
All those soothing words from President Trump cannot mitigate the effects of his attacks on the press. For it does not take much for his incendiary remarks about the press as 'the enemy of the people" to enable people with grudges to resort to violence. Yet we should not hold our collective breaths waiting for the president to cease and desist from behavior that is now routine at rallies and on his tweets.
Cry, our beloved country.
121
Thank you for the job you do,as thankless as it is,i wish you would do an article about the NRA spokeswoman"s comments about reporters and curb stomping. People like this have no place in a position of great power.Its starting to sound like Nazi Germany all over again.MAY GOD BLESS and PROTECT YOU as you do what your profession requires.Fair and Accurate reporting.THANKS AGAIN!!!
60
Mr Trump has encouraged these kinds of attacks in word for so long. He is at fault for this as much as the actual shooter.
This lack of judgment on how his words affect his followers is why he is unfit to continue to be the president.
89
I am really sorry that President Trump has whipped up animosity toward the Press and used "Branding" to vilify our journalists.
Everyone makes mistakes; "fake news" is a branding/marketing technique, in this case, a negative one that is inciting people's anger and hatred towards journalists.
This is very dangerous. President Trump is whipping people into an extremist, "religious" ferver based in hatred, and it must MUST stop.
Please Mr. President, stop this. mb
33
Hate speak has consequences. We'll probably never know whether Trump's diatribes against the press contributed to this tragedy, but the president's reckless statements certainly did not help.
69
Basically, the President of the United States labeled the mainstream media as the enemy, called any article or newscast that he didn't like "distorted fake news," pointed to the press at his disgusting propaganda rallies so his cult could boo them and verbally assaulted them on a nearly daily basis.
With this enticement, anyone with a grudge can feel they are given permission to be violent. His tweets are official statements from a president.
In a few days trump will be back to his abnormal, normal behavior.
26
Is the president liable if his hate speech entices violence? I know there was a Supreme Court case that held a KKK clan leader was legally partialy responsible for the death of a black man back in the early 70's. The case hinged on the guilty members stateing they where directly motivated by the leaders speech weeks before. Obviously this doesn't seem to be the case here.
9
@JW,
Agreed that there doesn't, at this point, seem a tie between Trump's less-than-truthful statements regarding the press. Don't necessarily agree, though, that someone who bombs or shoots or otherwise kills can, or should be able to, legally excuse their actions by saying that Trump--or the devil--made me do it. Maybe a bit like McVeigh, who seemed predisposed to do what he did and got further inspiration from the Turner Diaries.
Any rate, throwing bombs never helps. So, let's stop throwing bombs.
Trump needs to stop verbally abusing and attacking the press.
He needs to champion the importance of a free press and the first amendment in protecting democracy.
I hope this will really sink in now.
7
It will not. He'll be back to attacking them at his next rally.
1
Oh gee, Trump gives journalists a very oblique kind word, by stating that "like all Americans" they should not be murdered in cold blood while at work. What a guy!
17