Urging people to vote after the Trump election is like asking people to invest in dirigibles after the Hindenburg.
Elections in America are a blueprint for destruction and catastrophe.
Have you seen the one trick pony,
giving crowds his thick baloney?
He thinks writers are the cause
of the death of Santa Clause.
Making noise but not much sense,
at least he is not on the fence.
He'll have to eat his words, I fear,
when all the jackals turn and jeer.
2
Haven’t we all had enough of the president’s whining about how unfair everything is? (The press, the Democrats, NATO, our trading partners, etc., etc.) He only leads the top superpower, dominates the Congress and Republican party, is filthy rich, can lie and womanize with impunity, and is his own greatest admirer. By “unfair” he means “I’m not in total control yet and it’s only fair that I should be." Well, man up, Trump. If you can’t handle some criticism and resistance from your fellow citizens, you know what you can do about it. Quit.
1
“Whatever happened to honest reporting?”
asks someone who sounds like a chain liar.
several commenters have suggested
to not mention the president's name
for a good while. report, but use
"the white house", "the administration" etc.
and show no photos of him, either.
djt would still grumble [see question above] but i,
for one, would enjoy a trump-free press season :-)
1
It is impossible to ignore the fascist overtones of this bizarre scene. Who knows which faces belong to those who are being paid to help the crowd get whipped up into a frenzy, or what any of these people are thinking? It is a disturbing spectacle, a spectacle which Donald Trump both requires and adores.
4
The remains are probably of North Koreans who died in their prison camps for crimes such as dropping a sewing machine. Yes, apparently that gets you sent to the labor camps for an undetermined amount time.
Well, these unproductive humans get a chance to spew their hate toward others. Maybe they should spend this time doing online classes or something so they can keep up with technology and get those jobs that others are far more qualified for.
1
Listening to an old man whine for an hour in a basketball arena. Sounds like a fun evening!
7
You don’t have to, as done in The Boys from Brazil, clone the body to return a dictatorial, racist, fascistic consciousness to the world. All one has to do is clone the ideas. Just as we see in Trump rallies. The 21st century version of Germany of the 1930’s.
5
In the post DT years are these folks going to fall back in line with the GOP? Theatrics aside,.. Ya really gotta wonder what the future holds for this carnival of discontent.
1
"During the rally, supporters gleefully booed at every dig at the so-called fake news, laughing and jeering as Mr. Trump recalled conversations with his wife, Melania, about anticipating positive coverage, only to be disappointed by what he deemed to be critical headlines."
This insight coming from Trump just proves that his reality testing, judgment and personal standards are so, so different from the norm and flawed.
1
DT struggles to discredit the media because the media is on to him. What are these carnival goers going to do when DT evaporates?
2
The question I have is who is footing the bill for Trump's attendance at all these rallies? Is it on the taxpayers dime? I'd like the press to do an investigation on that.
2
Same old same old. Yes we shouldn’t be complacent about slipping political norms, and covering this issue is important, but I’d rather the media dig more into the conversations this President is having that he doesn’t want us to see.
2
No surprise here, first things first, didn't expect him to talk rationally about economic policy, international negotiations, the plight of those without healthcare or carrying large student loan balances, or on-going armed conflicts, oh no.
1
@WPLMMT As a lifelong Democrat who first voted in 1972, I find your comments to be troubling. Unlike the president, who displays the written and spoken verbal skills of a nine year old child, you write quite well. Cohesive paragraphs. Organized thoughts. I view the fact that you are inclined to offer several of the same lame arguments as the president does, after 18 months of his chaotic leadership, to be alarming.
For example, the absurd idea that Democrats are punishing Trump for winning an election despite all of his accomplishments as president. In all of the conversations I have had with fellow Democrats, I have never heard anyone say anything about “losing an election we should have won.”
People have told me they see Donald Trump as being unbalanced, dangerous, inconsistent, vengeful, rude, unfit for office, ignorant, egomaniacal, childish, distinctly unpresidential and a pathological liar. Trump has displayed none of the knowledge, skills or behaviors needed to be a successful POTUS. None.
These are just a few of the reasons Democrats object to Trump.
Tax cuts? Despite the Republicans’ traditional stand against deficit spending, Trump keeps increasing it. Trump inherited a strong economy from President Obama.
Trump, who displays no knowlege of diplomacy or negotiating international treaties, childishly claims to have “fixed Korea.”
The list of reasons why Trump’s opponets oppose him is lengthy. The statements in your comment completely fail to match those reasons.
3
You think you could just pan the crowd instead of focusing on him.
3
There are people who have chosen to embrace reality after a childhood of religious indoctrination, and people who have chosen to leave cults that they joined. It is possible for people who've been misled to reconsider. All that is required is a scintilla of doubt, and a little curiosity. I trust that some people will realize that the Trump administration is negative and harmful, and that what happens to our environment and our standing in the world is more important than any prejudices they may harbor. Most people don't really want to hate and harm others. They would rather be uplifted and inspired by all of the promise this country and its people still hold.
I'd mention the similarity to the Nuremburg rallies, but the only people who would understand the reference are too intelligent to vote for trump.
4
In an earlier age, when fact-checking had the potential to shame most public figures, a performance on the order of a typical Trump rally would have been an inflection point on the inevitably terminal trajectory of a political career.
That age has passed. Rather than fact-checking these theatrical performances, some measure of entertainment value needs to be applied as a means of quantifying the efficacy of this behavior. Obviously, it is essential to have a solid understanding of the target audience. Once that is settled, all that you need is a couple of speech writers who can consistently tell the audience what they want to hear. Figure out their prejudices and frustrations, offer a nod to their fantasies and promise that only you can make it all right again.
The effectiveness of aspirational advertising and the irresistible allure of impossibly improbable state lottery games tells you everything else you need to know to wrap up 35% of the American citizenry.
This demographic is desperate for all of the lies to be true. Or, having once declared their faith, the believers will never admit the possibility that they may have been wrong. And certainly, it is the rarest of one-time Trump supporters that has the capacity to admit error or that they may have been fooled. For all practical purposes, never gonna happen, not out loud anyway.
Fact check all you want, anyone whose mind might have been changed, completed that process 18 months ago!
6
This is horrifying.... truly haven't thought much of our presidents..even the "good" one, but this one doesn't resemble anything at all to admire, count on, make excuses for. And the Republican party supports him.
When we think the worst can't happen here, there are people who cheer him, even as he lies to their faces, they cheer him on.
When will the democrats understand in these very desperate time they need to give up their own dishonesty, and change, because if that doesn't happen...what then? It can not be business as usual!
The best way for journalist to fight back is with their feet. All responsible journalists should take a vow to not cover anything about Trump. They can still cover US politics, but they can focus on the outcomes of actions rather than the Trump theater. Otherwise they are just playing into his hands and feeding his supporters. Trump lives on the attention, take it away and there's nothing left for him. Since his word means nothing, there's no point in reporting on it.
3
After 2 years of self interest 'analysis' Mr. Trump has concluded he cannot bash the FBI anymore. The press corps is taking his extra venom these days as a result. The man apparently needs to be regularly serviced in more ways than one.
This is real life Seth Meyers stuff - the little voice in back of DT's head...
1
Why are my tax dollars paying for Trump's rallies and rants and
outright lies? What happened to governing instead of running around the country and running yet again for office? In the meantime, this seditious Congress, under the self-serving leadership of Ryan and Mc Connell, sits on the sidelines and says nothing about his specious attacks on the press.
17
Having no concept of basic American constitutional rights and privileges apparently is now acceptable in our political leadership.
This is the farthest thing from "great again" possible.
2
re: "They can make anything bad".
Well - certainly, if anyone, Trump would know about that, wouldn't he.
He's been making a lot of things bad for quite a long time now.
The followers of this who have drunk the Kool-Aid won't be dissuaded - he is their king - he is the focal point of their collective rage, which he has so effectively tapped into - and, as he observed once, with his "5th Avenue Fanatics", he can do no wrong.
But Trump's beginning to go down. You can see it. A tipping point has been reached with him. Pretty soon Mueller will be done with his investigation and the rest of the country that has NOT drunk the Kool-Aid are going to get the facts about who this guy really is - and as the federal and state courts begin to close in on him and his phony baloney regime - and as the Dems wrest control of at least one of the Houses (this is all that is necessary) - he'll be in full defense mode, and this is about all we'll hear out of him from that point onward.
Its already happening.
Wake up, America...
3
A previous comments was posted and removed for no apparent reason. My points, briefly:
Trump should focus on what's actually wrong with the mainstream news media--its liberal bias. The term "fake news" is not appropriate in most cases where he uses it.
The liberal bias of the mainstream media has been demonstrated in studies.
Mainstream news reporters do not represent the political views of the mean or median American, but skew left. I would contend that our media should reflect more centrist or middle of the road viewpoints.
The liberal bias of the Times is easy to spot in how certain issues are featured and how stories are shaped. Many news stories contain "analysis" which is disguised viewpoint commentary. Maybe this is justified as the Times' readership is more liberal. But that doesn't necessarily excuse biased reporting--what if all major media outlets were Fox News level biased in favor of conservative viewpoints? Would that be good for the country?
3
I want to know if taxpayers are paying for these rallies. If so, how much do they cost?
4
@Sharon
Taxpayers are paying for Trump to fly around on Air Force One to these rallies and also to give Trump's Mar-a-lago members rides around on Air Force one!
1
Wouldn't it be interesting if there was a coordinated "MSM" boycott of all things Trumpy for a few days? What if all the "MSM" lavished it's attention on all his worst fears, reasonable candidates running for office, victims of his policies, etc etc. Strike strike strike from covering Trumpworld! Please only cover the un-Trump stuff in a very positive light and let's see what happens?
2
Is Trump what the majority of Americans really want to represent us as POTUS? I certainly hope not.
1
There will always be an audience for any fool. As a ritual, every day the President tweets, spews, vitriols “something” controversial about “something, somebody, or someone”. His words don’t require any explanations or analysis. It is foolish to get trapped into Trump’s media messaging game. He had played the media skillfully before the elections and has been toying them ever since with a topic of his choice every day. He is repeating the same template from last elections
9
Trump has been waging war against factual journalism since before he was elected. Now that irrefutable evidence has emerged proving a plague of Russian intelligence and propaganda operatives infest social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, one must wonder if Trump chose Twitter as his communication platform of choice coincidentally, or if he was told how to best leverage Russian assistance.
4
Just been informed that he didn't know the difference between England and Great Britain within this rally- sorry I could not face watching it myself. Do people realise that he is the face of the country? Around the world people respect the US less and less. This is what saddens me.
1
Seriously, my advice to the media is this: Journalists should boycott Trump rallies. It's a disaster of the media's own making. They should really stop giving him more fuel to his fire. Him and his followers feed on bashing the media, and the media being at the center of every rally only accomplishes his goals. You are a convenient target and you are standing in front of the firing line without realizing it. This is not the Handmaid's Tale's Gilead, and you are not the handmaids. You don't have to be there. One person from the media can go in as part of the crowd and cover the story and share it if there is anything of substance. There is no need for the entire media crew to be at a rally which really has no purpose but to blame the media for all his failures! Please, the future of journalism, and to ensure people trust the news, be strategic. It's all in your hands!
5
The people whose lives are so pointless and inconsequential that they actually have nothing better to do than attend this traveling geek show deserve the pity of those of us who are educated and successful.
2
Why does the mainstream media attend and show all of Trump’s rallies? Those are political campaign rallies. He revels in media attention. Send in your interns or simply have one pool journalist at those rallies. Don’t film them. If Fox and local TV news stations are the only media back in the almost prison like area Trump places the press, if love to see this vain and narcissistic man deal with no attention.
3
Millions willing to check their morals and ethics at the door, just to watch a mediocre insult comic riff for sixty minutes. Actually, it’s very cheap entertainment for those living on retirements that were likely robbed blind by Trump and his GOP allies. Maybe he feels guilty and it’s just his way of giving back?
3
Disgusting indeed, but not in the context he uses the word.
Twisted megalomania at work. There are a lot of negatives here, especially the treasonous attempt to take down our First Amendment and the dangerous willingness to create an overt atmosphere of hate against journalists.
But, this is the way dictators operate, or in the case of the current occupier of the White House, attempt to operate. The United States has had extremists before, and they've all failed.
One more thing, we the taxpayers are paying for his flights to these cities so he can rant and rave. Are they billed as campaign rallies? Because that's what they are, and we should not be paying for a fascist who has set out to destroy the Bill Of Rights and divide the citizens of this once-great and revered nation.
This occupier of the White House hasn't made America great again. He's made America sick again.
1
Republicans in Congress remain complicit while our democracy goes down in flames day after day. Who is more deplorable, Trump or the complicit traitors who were elected to defend the Constitution of the United States and protect the American people.
3
Trump is president of the confederacy only. He appears to have no interest in leading America or being a president to all Americans.
9
Trump's incendiary anti-media language has already caused havoc and death to journalists. June 2018 a shooter killed 5 in an Annapolis, Md. newsroom. This is just the beginning
1
That shooting had nothing to do with Trump.
2
Why would anyone write "President T. devoted THE MAJORITY of his time ...targeting... " etc. Why not MOST of his time? So simple, 'most'.
Why don't the networks quit covering these hatefests? I mean really. What's the point?
2
He is right. The NYT and mass media is incapable of self reflection. Since his election, Trump has been subject to an unprecedented attack by the media - article after article confusing the liberal standpoint with "facts." I cancelled my WP subscription because the process of "interpreting" the so called "news" wasn't worth it. NYT would be next, but I want to see what the media is up to. Trump may be over the top, but I'm sorry that doesn't excuse the media from their duty to report news, not slant it in virtually every article.
3
Please, do explain, specifically, how the major news organizations have maligned the President.
2
I wonder how many of Trump's faithful followers, the ones who show up at his rallies with malignant hate in their hearts for others, attend church on Sundays and think they are "Christians"?
2
So, is the 'fake' news of the day about 'fake' news, or what.....i'm confused.
Why does the media keep covering these events and reporting all the lies? It’s exactly what he and his cult want.
4
Trump continues to spew invective and incendiary condemnation against the media and anyone else who doesn't adhere to his agenda . He is frightening to watch but even more concerning is watching his supporters worked into a frenzy of hate and fueling what I call his "vengeance tour". His rallies are really creepy.
1
Trump has no legitimate grievances against the Washington press corp. They confirm their sources and report facts. He spends his time holding rallies to take pleasure from having dupes cheer his racist, xenophobic, sexist and anti-american lies.
Never thought I'd live to see insanity run amok in America.
But I have.
Press bashing is dangerous and disgraceful.
This fake president is a traitor and everyone knows it except these white tribalists.
2
I wonder how many people would show up for these rasslin'-like shows if the tickets weren't free. I think people go because it's a night out on the town with the biggest celebrity around, and they can wear their red hats and howl at the moon and flip the finger when the cameras are pointed at them. They're cheap cowards.
6
“Fake news” accusations from a guy who has to lie every 5 minutes. Tremendous irony.
3
Trumpsters complain about the liberal media spreading fake news, but they get their news from Fox News and Russia Today. Since when did such news sources have it over serious journalism such as the published by this newspaper.
1
Another day, another Trump ego stroking rally.
Nazi Germany started with the Brown shirts who were basically thugs used
By Hitler to scare opponents. He succeeded and so will Trump with his ignorant base especially the QAnon
Why is media giving g so much coverage to this group? Is it increase their
Memberships. They should be ignored.
2
A suggestion for Democratic strategists for political ads. Split screens of Trump rallies side-by-side with archival footage of Hitler rallies, of Mussolini rallies. Trump fires out nasty insults? Fire back with scorched-earth mockery. Stop being so wussy with your responses to his barrage of lies. The model for this is the crew of graphic artists and video geniuses who work at The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Get creative.
4
The press has to cover him rallies and all because he's eluding us. When he spoke for 2 hrs with Putin, where is the record? He knows what he is doing he's crafty and a conman and has done this all his life. The silent congress is getting right wing judges into court, he is their cover. He distract all the time, he's running a reality show. He doesn't love America, he's plundering America, along with his family. He's behaving with disrespect for the earth, with disrespect and venality for brown and black people, cruelty and law breaking against children, for anyone who opposes him. He needs to be stopped in his tracks. He disrespects; make the list, you know it, but NEVER Putin. The oddest thing is, do his supporters really support his treason, do they support Putin and open the door to Russian influence. The press persecution is pure Putin.
2
Trump lied about Queen Elizabeth being late when anyone could see her twiddling her thumbs and looking at her watch while the band played on and on and on.
I think it fair to say that Trump does not actually know he is lying. What comes from his mouth is akin to diarrhea, and as uncontrollable. As my mother would have put it, he is suffers from 'old-timers'. Sad! So give the Dotard a break, at least he's blaming the 'news' and not the 'Jews' (for the time being).
1
Kleine Nürnberger. That's what they look like.
3
fake disgusting president
don the con cannot take the slightest criticism - and has done much to ctiticize.
no health care improvements
masochistic tarriffs
massive deficits
non-agreement on nukes with NK
crimes against humanity on the border
most corrupt administration...ever?
whoring & covering it up
not even a passing familiarity with the truth...
but the fault is not his - it is the media... or Hillary... or "liberals"... or whoever is sending messages into his head OH that's Fox Faux News
2
One moron leads a group of other morons, all bathed in lies. There you have the Trump reality. Like pro wrestling, the idiots spectators cheer fakery, and over the top, empty histrionics, which Donald Trump, a lying, dumpy, cowardly clown provides. The morons who cheer Trump on, are a pathetic group of cruel white supremacists scared of their own shadows, following a narcissistic, pathological liar over the cliff. I can't wait until this stupid circus comes to its ignoble conclusion.
2
Why do we cover what he says. His supporters applaud all his lies,bravura, false claims, and innuendo. No need to cover him, no news being made here, folks.
3
Couldn’t you run a separate column of the Presidents tweets or whatever and include at the end of the day a tally of true or false? They are a presidential record of his speech even if he says otherwise. I guess in lieu of interviews. Then get on with reporting the news.
5
@RBM: I like that idea, especially since we can streamline the tally b/c his tweets are always lies.
2
I saw the entire rally live and he convinced me that he is never credited with anything. I read the New Yorker and the NYT and I watch CNN. It's a fact,not a lie. There has been progress with North Korea,albeit we are far from achieving denuclearization. But the return of our hostages, the return of the remains of our soldiers from the Korean war and the absence of missile and nuclear tests since TRump's meeting with Kim Jung-Un is a fact and not a lie. I read the entire Iran Agreement and was appalled at the inspection regime which seemed to be something dictated by the Iranians. That's a fact, not a lie. The economy continues to strengthen. That's a fact, not a lie. The move of our Embassy to Jerusalem has not produced an intifada. That's also a fact, not a lie. Some people have to come to terms with the fact that Trump won 30 of the 50 states and the popular vote total if California is not included.That's a fact,not a lie. The Constitution very specifically details how president are elected and the popular vote in all 50 states does not appear in the Constitution.That's a fact, not a lie.
2
We have arrived at the tipping point of America's gradual decline as the moral leader of the free world;there is no going back. The genie is out of the bottle for all the world to see.
Trump did not "find his supporters"; his supporters were always there - *they* found Trump.
We have watched a pure malignant narcissist, Trump, bluntly,during the GOP primary season, deconstruct the corruption of groups like the banksters; the American war machine, and "the swamp". What is purely ironic (a sad irony, from my perspective) about this is that he didn't care about any of it, but only said these things to bring adulation to feed his insatiable need for narcissistic supply.
Nevertheless, we (and the world) have shockingly discovered that Americans who hold certain racist, anti-science, etc. views and beliefs about the world that we thought were held by just a tiny minority, are in fact a significant minority of American culture.
Trump has given them permission to "be themselves" and even after Trump is gone (no matter how he leaves) we are going to be dealing with this minority who have shown the world a part of America that they, too, never imagined.
America is going to pay dearly for what we have wrought. Trump and his supporters are a real thing; they are a cancer on the image of a nation that the rest of the world looked up to.
The large remaining question: How is America going to excise that cancer? It's not going to be easy.
12
These campaign rallies are better than press conferences for him. Every time he gets into off the cuff answers he makes Sarah Palin look like Einstein. But that's him. What about all these people? Did they need a new club to belong to? A club of victims who delight in blaming? In chanting? In living in the recent past? In showing no evidence of appreciation of history? Of foreign policy? Do they understand how bizarre "Lock her up" sounds? Not to mention dangerous? When these chickens come home to roost it's going to be a horror show.
7
Last night in Pennsylvania, Donald Trump uttered at least 17 demonstrably and provably false, claims.
There should be no mistake. A significant majority of the main stream media do provide news stories that almost always portray Trump negatively. But they are simply reporting what the man says and does and how what he says and does relates to what is known to be true. Facts are facts. There are certainly “alternative facts” now, but that is in Trumpland. It is a land of fantasy and lies. When you say, as Trump did again last night that US Steel is opening six new mills and US Steel says “no, we are not”, you cannot complain about being called a liar. When you claim, as Trump did last night, that his administration is responsible for the largest job gains ever, and irrefutable statistics show that Obama’s last 17 months were significantly better in job creation than Trump’s first 17 months, you cannot complain about being called a liar.
There may well be some whole kernels of sweet corn in the horse manure that the man spreads everywhere he goes, but you can hardly blame the media, or anyone else, for not wanting to dig through it to find them.
9
Really don't see the sense in covering these Trumpsterbation rallies anymore. They're so predictable that they're becoming cliches. What are you expecting? Trump to say something profound? Reasonable? If he ever does say something of significance in one of his demented sermons, surely one of his brain-dead disciples will record it and put it on the internet (or you can get it from Fox). These things are little more than monster truck rallies or WWE events where loud noises and bright shiny things cause people to cheer wildly. Would you give front-page coverage to those?
5
There will be violence. It is inevitable. The question is: how much?
6
Seems fair, media mostly bashes trump
1
Try as I may, I cannot fathom what runs through the minds of the people who support this lunatic.
To say the free press is the enemy of the people is to spit on our Constitution. Anyone who buys into this garbage is willing to consciously ignore Trump's blatant attempts to create repeated false narratives to hide his own corruption, incompetence and collusion.
This is not politics, this is lying to create authoritarian power; the end here is to subvert our system of democracy. What has become of our country when vast numbers of people seem to embrace this path? What could they possibly be thinking?
53
@Steve, The Rapture is just around the bend to many of these folks. Trump is a manifestation of millenarian nihilism.
I can assure you they are incapable of thinking.
3
@Steve I’ve read for years that Fox News is the enemy of the country. So I guess you are only standing up for the views you believe in. Not views your disagree with.
I really think we should just ignore everything he says. We should focus on what he does. Wouldn't it be fascinating if the news media just refused to report what he says or tweets?
8
The only person who is horrendous is Dangerous Donald.
5
Warning signs of Trump’s unfitness, his borderline challenges to democratic institutions, his rejection of anything resembling civility have been present for months. We are his hostages as long as the GOP stays silent.
13
Will Trump take any responsibility when one of his nutcase supporters murders a journalist? Not a chance.
There's a lot of fear in this country that Trump's reckless rhetoric will lead to a tragedy.
Trump is a very dangerous man playing a very dangerous game.
15
Trump will take credit and call the murderer a hero
1
I was asked this during the US Open Golf Championship two months ago:
Is President Trump a member at Shinnecock?
To my knowledge, I replied, he is not.
If he handled his business affairs properly, no doubt he could be a member at many prominent private clubs.
Instead, he builds and buys his own golf courses.
As a golfer, this speaks volumes to me.
7
Fake and news are an oxymoron. Try to explain that to Trumpery.
Everything He says is a lie or exaggeration which he presumes is everyone else's standard also.
4
I find it offensive that Trump is wasting tax payer money on his ego-driven, propaganda filled Trumpfests, while the Congress allows this to happen. We are told there is no money for healthcare, for PBS, for Puerto Rico, for infrastructure fixes, etc. etc., but hey plenty of free cash for Trump to spend on his grotesque rhetoric!
13
The Times and the rest of the media have yet to recognize their own truth: there's "All the News That's Fit to Print," and then there's a Donald Trump rally. Not only are they being used to spread demagogic destructive diatribes, but they're being abused as stage props. It's time to stop being played for fools and tools and to ignore these nasty narcissistic "fake news" events that wallow in the depravity of negativism. It's time to take the oxygen of free news away from one who doesn't deserve it.
9
I'm glad he bashes them, including my all-time favorite news organ. I was astonished at the degree to which the media, or most of it, took a side in the last election (I abstained - no reasonably good choices). I'm not talking about cable (so-called) news, which has always been biased left or right, but those who had a claim to journalism. As bad as I felt that Donald Trump was elected president, at least I could be glad that the media got a slap in the face - that their attacks and one-sided coverage backfired. And I have met many people who feel the same.
I don't know if the media, or that which leans left, has learned a lesson - that Trump is like the creature on Star Trekian that fed on negativity and became more powerful the more he was fairly or unfairly attacked. It doesn't seem like they do. In fact, it seems like in their outrage and continued hysteria, they have doubled down on it.
Is Trump dishonest, bigoted and neurotic? Sure, take your pick. A traitor or an authoritarian? Stop already. And, sometimes he's right, and he is about the media. Perhaps lost in the partisan battle they can't see it.
5
What country were you living in during the 2016 campaign. While I wasn’t a huge fan of Clinton’s and supported Bernie first, to say that Trump had worse media coverage than Clinton is simply false.
First, Trump got more media coverage both in print and TV than any other candidate. All of his rallies were covered from start to finish. Clinton’s rallies were either not covered, or given back page short reviews in print and 20 second clips on cable or network news. As far as negative coverage? There were TWICE as many negative stories about Clinton than Trump in your paper of record. That is a fact. And sadly, the reason the NYT and other so called msm gave as much or more negative coverage to Clinton’s emails was due to false equivalency.
I’m so tired of hearing that the media is picking on Trump or the conservatives as a whole. In Trump’s case, maybe if he didn’t say or do such disgusting things he wouldn’t be covered the way he is. It’s simple; if you don’t want to have stories written about conspiring with the Russians...don’t conspire. If you don’t want stories about being a racist don’t celebrate white supremacists and denigrate POC. Don’t denigrate women. Don’t lie. Every day. All day long. Don’t call the media enemies of the people unless you want to be compared to Stalin. News isn’t “fair.” News is made up of facts.
3
@David H. Eisenberg So it would be alright for the media to state that Trump is “dishonest, bigoted and neurotic”, but not a “traitor or an authoritarian”? I can certainly live with that. But only until Mueller has his say. Then I think we’ll just be down to debating the “authoritarian” part.
1
When you praise authoritarian leaders while ignoring our democratic allies one might assume that you have some authoritarian tendencies. When you publicly say some of the most disgusting things we've ever heard from a political candidate, you cannot expect positive coverage. Much of the media's coverage of Trump was merely direct quotes from him. You don't need much more to paint a negative picture. Also when the president engages in this level of vitriolic rhetoric in opposition to the media, it has the potential to eventually damage the freedom of our press, a constitutionally guaranteed right. A right that is far more important than the easily hurt feelings of our supposed Commander in chief.
2
As sad as the spectacle of President Donald Trump is for most Americans, the truth is that we dull and complacent U.S. citizens deserve him because most of us have not taken the responsibility of citizenship seriously. Trump is a perfect symbol of the deterioration of America: shareholder capitalism, trickle-down economics, regulatory capture, crony capitalism, the middle class squeeze, the stagnation of worker wages, the alienation of the working class, reality TV, white nationalism, gun violence, persistent fossil fuel consumption, human-caused climate damage, sexism, racial polarization....
9
His only two talents, it would seem, are bashing the press and bankrupting the country in all possible categories.
9
And conning his rube supporters.
2
Fanning media hatred among morons can only end one way -someone in media is going to die. And the reaction among the press will be called more 'fake news.'
7
How did Trump end up being so paranoid,
so needy?
7
Who is paying for these rallies?
It better be the Republican Party because it certainly is not legitimate government business.
16
@Billy, I hear Mexico is paying.
2
@Billy
...and the RNC should also be paying for the SS coverage and all costs associated with the transportation including AF1, the Trumpmobile, helicopters, police, venue, etc.
TENS OF MILLIONS OF TAXPAYER MONEY for a deranged political hack.
Can we agree the media should not filter the facts or report them out of context with the goal of favoring a particular ideology?
The role of the news media should perhaps be to report all the relevant facts in context without regard to ideology. When the whole truth is not clearly presented are we served?
As an example my understanding is Trump's "enemy of the people" based on a long history refers to what he calls "fake news" and apparent NOT the media in general. However, does some reporting leave that part out?
An interesting activity is to read reports on the same topic on ideologically opposed media and see what is left out, or presented out of context.
1
@John You seem to not understand that Trump considers all news fake news unless it's being reported by Fox. And he most certainly is referring to the mainstream media as "the enemy of the people." His denial was after the fact.
4
@LB Arber
My impression is that some Trump commentators are Trump Cheerleaders. Other than Fox, my impression is much television media has a strong anti-Trump bias. To get a clearer picture of the whole truth I try to listen to diverse media.
A gauge of bias my be reporting on the Russia investigation including the problems with the investigators.
This isn't politics, it's sadism. Trump is tormenting these willing victims to protect himself. He'd steal their last dollar from them and gloat over the hustle.
4
Hypothetically... if a US President were under the control of a hostile foreign power who had interfered in our most recent presidential election and was actively doing the same in our upcoming midterm election, what do you suppose that might look like?
4
No Trump IS bad news and has serious mental problems. Sociopaths always believe what they do is beyond the law. They are always liars with a smooth repartee and Hollywood charm. But Trump’s mental status has worsened in that he is now demented and that accounts for his erratic behavior and rages.His family should put him the hands of good medical care but are either too proud or problematic. themselves. Probably the later.
A geriatric nurse.
11
I watched a documentary on Netflix "Attacking the Devil." Journalist Harold Evans fought both the British government, and the government to get the truth out not only to those injured by Thalidomide but also to the rest of England, and the rest of the world. Threatened repeatedly by Distillers group which owned the drug, but by his own country with imprisonment. Regardless he persevered. Distillers, like our own 1% companies and people though having done a negligent job of testing Thalidomide and causing horrific birth defects and deaths to estimated over 20,000 babies , refused to compensate these people adequately. It took over 10 years to get a settlement and only after their stock values dropped. This gentleman, a true journalist spent years trying to help these victims , along with many beside him. Risking his career, his freedom, This is what true journalism is. Getting the truth, even though risking personal peril, from the British government , from Distillers, to the world. This is how we find out who is lying. When our president says fake news, witch hunt, there are steadfast men who need to inform us, get to reality ,not petty ego, self aggrandizing remarks spewed by a president who doesn't give a whit for the truth. I want the truth even when its difficult to hear.
3
In the Hudson Valley of NY in the 40th SD we have a Trump supporting State Senator Terrence Murphy & GOP Assembly Member Kevin Bryne. When it comes to ethics, morals and dignity and respect for journalism both of these elected officials call themselves the "silent majority". They are silent when you show them good journalism that could help create better policies, but last time GOP Murphy was out in public we asked him what was the last book he read and he refused to answer the question.
1
Trump, in full panic, Is trying to tamp down the reaction as the truth about his crimes bubble closer to the surface. He can now almost literally feel the noose tightening.
8
Republicans, your brand is really, really ugly right now. At what point do you ask yourself if you're on the right path? What is with this rule by fear thing? Those of us in the majority aren't buying it. Rule of law is coming, and I think that is what you fear most.
9
BLL&R or Bashing, Lashing, Lying and Repetition. These are the four go-to techniques Trump uses consistently to "make anything bad". It may be hot air, but he became president using these tricks.
1
He thrives on his notoriety. Don't give it to him. We surely need the news but we don't need anything that feeds the crazies. Don't print the lies, the game, the hype. The shock value emboldens him.
13
According to candidate Trump, the positive employment numbers under Obama were fraudulent. But the day he became president, presto, those very same good numbers became news for which Trump claims he wasn't given credit. There will always be con men like Trump, but the disheartening thing is that his base cannot see through his charlatan ways. Those who voted for Trump did so because they were supposedly ignored by the Democratic Party. But judging by their inability to see through a lying grifter like Trump, I am guessing that the majority of their problems were, and are, caused by their lack of judgment. Basically, you get what you pay for. They wanted Trump, and now they will pay for sure. They need to take a good hard look in a mirror and figure out why things don't turn out for them as they hope they should. Perhaps it's because they neglect getting educated and hold on to conspiracy theories instead. Take responsibility! Don't think that some rich showman who has stiffed virtually everyone he's dealt with will solve all your problems. Indeed, he will only make them more intractable. Wake up. Hopefully, it's not too late.
5
A dictator, an autocrat, and a Trump all have something in common. A need for a real or perceived enemy. In 2016 Trump had Hillary. Now that she isn't on the ballot the new 'enemy of the people' is the media. He has to keep feeding his base red meat and keep them enthralled before they turn on him. Its part of his mantra and his messaging of you can only trust him and only he alone can solve the nation's problem. Trump will soon find out that you can only feed a shark so long before it bites off your arm.
8
I totally agree with majority of the comments here that mr trump should be ignored.
I am even very surprised that the press is yet to learn its lessons after this tragedy of 2016. Even though the press rightly acknowledge that they were partly responsible for foisting this moster by giving wide and free coverage to his rants, lies and bouts of anger during the campaigns - apparently believing that he will never win - have now unfortunately continued to make the same mistake.
Do you want a journalist to be seriously harmed by his band of angry biggots before you wake up and take the oxygen out of this nonsense? Who really cares to hear what Trump wants or has to say? Imagine reporters in USA moving around with security?? Its sad indeed.
4
@Unconcerned
Ignoring the ignoramus would just give more credence to the really FAKE NEWS. It would be tantamount to cessation of free press, but voluntary.
It is incredibly distasteful and irritating to hear about all of the crimes and attempted crimes, kidnapping, propaganda, theft, etc., but we just cannot ignore it. If we do, Trump will think he has won and actually put his insane Tweets into more unfettered action. That would seal our doom as a Democracy.
My vote: Cover it if you must, but please put these stories in a short article on, maybe page 15, with a headline "Trump Complains about Media Again." It is not news or newsworthy when Trump decries the so-called Fake Media (in all caps and for the umpteenth time.) When Trump rants on about the media, he's sounds like a small child trying to get your attention through any means--taunting, throwing insults, pouting. Don't enable the toxic display!
16
When I watch Trump for the umpteenth time going through his schtick of pretending to be a “boring” president by wandering around the podium like a demonic wind-up doll, and see his audience cheering mindlessly, I realize how far we’ve fallen. Trump knows exactly what these people want from him and it definitely isn’t a course in civics. They travel to his rallies covered in Trump paraphernalia to be titillated by vulgarity, the breaking of societal taboos and dog whistles, and he never disappoints. He is Donald Trump- entertainer-in-chief - the perfect antidote for the dog days of August for the deplorables.
5
Trump is right in his own benighted backward way: the American people have an enemy but it's not the free press.
7
Trump, commander of a ghost ship.
1
Trump claims that the NY Times is fake news in his rallies and it resonates with his base, and perhaps with many of the uncommitted voters.
Why?
Perhaps the reason is that the NY Times does report actual news but the front page is dominated by opinion, not news.
And the stories selected for publication reflect a clear agenda, one which many disagree with.
It is estimated that there were 17.250 murders in the US in 2016. Most of them were not considered newsworthy by the NY Times.
Instead, it chooses to publish virtually every claim of sexual harassment made against a public figure.
Of course there are claims against Trump, but they bounce off him and seem irrelevant to his base. Perhaps that's because Bill Clinton had Monica and Ted Kennedy had Chappaquiddick.
The claims against newscasters and actors are more lethal. They are career ending. Yet, in most cases there have been no trials, just accusations, and in some cases, even if the accusations were true the punishment seems excessive.
This seems on the face to be overreach by feminists. It seems that public shaming with no previous trial seems to contradict the due process guaranteed by the constitution.
I was in a public institution, and I had to fire an employee. Yet the HR department required that I give the employee a warning, then a second chance. It was a drawn out process but seemed fair.
In their zeal to change the world, feminists have driven many men who value due process to vote for Trump.
1
Due process is a criminal right established by the. 14th amendment. In civil law the truth can be determined in a number of ways including law suits. How come none of these wronged men haven't filed defamation lawsuits? Could it be because the accusations are true. 90% of women have been harassed at some point in their life. Most let it go
1
I watched as much of the Wilkes Barre-Nuremberg rally as I could stomach. All I could think of was Jim Jones...and the fact that tRUMP's rabid crowds of deplorables truly WOULD drink the Kool-Aid id he asked them to. How utterly depressing that this is what our country has sunk to.
7
Criminal grifter russian traitor can't even be bothered to pretend to be president. Goes from rally to rally to cheating at golf at his bankrupt golf course while his cesspool appointments gut the nation's environment and economy.
7
Honestly, can anybody actually say there was anyone on the political stage that has been just as stupid or even close to being so ignorant as Donald Trump, I don't think there so.
5
I just hope we can survive the idiocies of our snake oil salesman of a president. He seems to be in a parallel "fake" universe who chants nonsense to his single digit IQ followers.
7
Trump has forgotten the role of the Fourth Estate, that of gatekeeper and truth seeker in a political environment. It's another check and balance. His cries of "fake news" are similar to Hitler's 'lugenpresse" - lying press.
5
Fascism on steroids.
12
Why is the press not collectively staying away from these stupid rallies?
Would be a great signal!
4
@Danny
Witness for posterity, c.f. the Nuremberg rallies (the crowd size is lacking here) – it's hard to fathom (less prove) that mankind can be so gullible, mindless and destructive en masse if there is no documentary evidence, no first hand accounts. Paradoxically people living it in the moment believe it even less, they even call it fake news.
Donald-the-Dotard and his minny-me Dotard son Donny Jr. are saying that the actions of the Democrats are akin to those of the Nazis. Interesting.
For those of you reading this, and probably not the ones who need to, Hitler's National Socialist Party (NAZI) gain d power the way Trump is gaming his base - through lies, fake propaganda, fomenting scapegoats and riot (against the Jews and other minorities) and SILENCING THE FREE PRESS.
Lesson ONE for a would-be dictator is to prevent his population from hearing anything but his lies. Control the media and silence any dissent. Trump commits crimes and blames them all on someone else (Democrats, Obama, Cohen, Canada, China (but not Russia). Sociopath personified!
Calling our free press (especially the NYT, WaPo, etc) "enemies of the state" is EXACTLY what Hitler did. IT'S TRUMP, NOT THE DEMOCRATS! He would have you believe that anything not spewing from his big mouth is fake, false, lies. Just the opposite is true.
As usual, Trump (Sr. and Jr.), lie like the thieves they are. YOU WOULD HAVE TO BE BLIND AND DEAF, and living in a cave without being able to read Braille, to believe what they have to say or just a run-of-the-mill TRAITOR and anti-American. That, my dear Trumplicans, is perhaps today's most obvious truth.
14
The appetite of foolish people who feel left behind for scapegoats is nothing new. Hitler did it with the Jews. Trump has had great success scapegoating Hillary, the press, and immigrants. If it weren't for the prominent Jews who succor him, Trump would probably include Jews in his targets.
This is not the tactic of a decent politician; but whoever said Trump is decent?
1
Straight out of Hitler's playbook.
7
Trump had a bad week so his minders sent him off to a rally to make him feel better.
How much are these fascist rallies costing the taxpayers in security and travel?
5
Every time I see images of his rallies, I am reminded of the films of Nazi rallies we used to be shown in school that demonstrated to us how people can be manipulated like sheep.
32
Trump lied, at the rally, about being late to visit Queen Elizabeth. Even though we all saw the videos of the queen checking her watch repeatedly because Trump wasn't there. he claimed he was early and the queen was late. Why is he so insecure that he has to claim, "It wasn't me. It was her!" Something is pathetic and wrong when someone has to lie about everything, big and small, when someone has to lie about things we all see and hear. Trump is a compulsive liar and he is not someone who should hold the fate of the world in his hands.
8
The press, including CNN, gave this guy hundreds of millions worth of free press with the wall to wall 24/7 coverage of his every move leading up to the election.
Now, any media source that is critical is fake news, but everyone is still hanging on the 24/7 news cycle to find out what happens next.
"There's no such thing as bad press"
3
One only hopes that in November, people will not blindly vote for candidates who simply support everything Trump does. I hope voters study the issues from a variety of reputable sources and select candidates that do the same. Trump is far too secretive, angry and wishy washy. I continue to be surprised at his blind support from otherwise intelligent people. Media is not fake simply because you don't like the coverage. And Trump is too self centered to reflect inward. Trump is president of a diverse country but he doesn't want to be president of all of us, just president of his base.
4
@vickie
I think perhaps he should just join the NRA, KKK and any white supremacist/bigoted organization that will have him and form a club, just so he can have meeting and tell everyone how wonderful he is. He won't pay dues, of course - he's too cheap - but at least that will give him his jollies and keep him out of our hair (REAL hair, that is). another suggestion would be clown college.
There are children who are missing in our system, there are raging wildfires destroying homes in the west, and flooding in the east. Farmers are worried that the trade war, which is already impacting factory jobs negatively, will drop the price of their crop and destroy their market. So what does Mr. Trump do, he spends taxpayer time campaigning and goes on a ten day vacation, because the weekly three day vacations weren't enough.
6
If Trump hates our free press then I suggest he move to a country that does not have a free press and that is Russia. He continues to support our biggest enemy, Russia, over our own country. At what point do we say this man should not be our President? He won the Presidency by a very small margin and we now know Russia helped him get in.
3
♦ What he promised:
“We’re going to win so much, you’re going to be so sick and tired of winning.”
♦ What he delivered:
Endless rants against the media, rants that even his own daughter can't quite stomach. Endless, long trips down memory lane to that night when he won in 2016.
Sick and tired of it. America, please!
6
I live in PA and I'm interested in issues affecting my state like new infrastructure and jobs programs. if my president has to spend all his time here praising himself and attacking the press he should give us a pass. Same old nonsense he's been talking about since I worked in NYC in the 1980's.
8
@Maureen
...although I would have used a much more pejorative term than "nonsense".
2
I am a Democrat and loved Obama. But because of the way Trump took down the Republican establishment and rubbed their faces in their Iraq War catastrophe during the primaries, I am unable to hate him. So from my fairly objective viewpoint I have to admit that I have found the media's coverage of Trump an absolute outrage. I have never seen such bias in the media...except on Fox News during the Clinton and Bush years. I saw the entire MSM turn into "Fox Left" in front of my eyes. (Fox, of course, was always known to be biased. But the regular media continues to pretend objectivity.) The hypocrisy on the left and in the regular media sickens me and I don't blame Trump and his supporters for their anger.
3
The only problem with “mainstream” media is their moral relativism. In order to retain or grow their audience they’ve abdicated their responsibility for calling out bad from good, wrong from right, traitor from patriot.
Two sides are not always right, or good for our country for that matter. Taking a stand is essential. Especially in the era of Trump and the rise of authoritarianism.
2
@rpe123 I would not call the reporting of the legitimate news media an "absolute outrage" at all. Then fact remains, and is evident throughout every day since the 2016 election, that Trump is the least appropriate person on this planet to be President. The NYT, WaPo, WSJ and every other valid "news" medium has no alternative to report on Trump's existential threat and actions.
There is a news cycle for every medium and, if you watch/read/listen too long they all sound belligerent through repetition. Their responsibility is to report fact to as many people as possible in a free society (which we would not be if Trump had his way). The trick is to absorb the latest facts and disconnect, pending later updates if you so desire.
Exposing crimes, treason, incompetence, racism, bigotry and conspiracy in any public figure is their responsibility - and they are doing it quite well.
Get the facts, remember them, update them, watch Mr. Rogers or Sesame Street (or better yet, CBS "Sunday Morning") and use your innate critical thinking abilities to draw the obvious conclusions - then VOTE. Do not force yourself into "Deranged Trump Syndrome" (yes, I said that correctly). Most of all, do not abrogate your duty to maintaining freedom.
6
@rpe123
So let me see if I understand your grasp on reality. The decades of Fox News claiming every couple of minutes, to be the fair & balanced source of news didn't register as even slightly unfair & unbalanced? And their treatment of President Obama didn't qualify for criticism either, in your objective assessment of the MSM? But Trump's exposure of the Republican establishment finally allowed you to unleash your personal outrage at the duplicity inherent in American democracy!
Makes sense to me.
3
Why would Trump and his minions go to such great lengths to bash the press if he has nothing to hide?
The obvious answer is that he is so in debt to Putin and Putin’s oligarchs that Trump is willing to put 242 years of our democracy on the chopping block.
It’s not about a “hoax” or a “witch hunt”, it’s about the sanctity and preservation of the longest running democracy in the history of the world, warts and all.
4
The same first amendment that gives the mainstream media the right to push a Left Wing narrative, present everything President Trump does or says in the worst possible light, and continually claim that even run of the mill GOP policies, like tax cuts and free market solutions to health care are beyond the pale and will "kill people", gives President Trump the right to call y'all out on your nonsense.
Yes this county needs a vibrant free press as a functioning 4th estate, but y'all have turned into partisan hacks. We need you to be the watchdog of our Republic. Instead you acted like a lap dog for President Obama and are now acting like an attack dog against President Trump.
3
You are delusional and Fox News-washed.
8
Conservatives have been very articulate about what they think for forty years. They have also managed to make, “liberal”, into a slanderous term for a third of the voters. They have complained that the press has had a liberal bias for over fifty years. So what is new about Trump is not his anti-liberal talk or his dissatisfaction with the press, it’s his disregard for facts and his demeaning language that is typical for nations preparing to go to war demonizing the enemy to make killing them in huge numbers socially acceptable. Trump talks like someone who is planning to do in a lot of people, not just to win an election. That’s not surprising. What is surprising is how many people are ready to join in with him.
7
Trump is a
demagogue.
How can it be
acceptable, even
to his supporters,
that hateful words
are used? He is
a hazard and is
leading us astray.
3
Mrs. Trump was holed up in Trump Tower for the first 6 months of this presidency. Since then she has come out to announce one "initiative," but has done nothing about it. What positive things has she done?
When a President lies and exaggerates, the press will call him out. The coverage is necessarily negative since the President really shouldn't be lying to the people who elected him and those who oppose him. Pretty simple stuff there. Its not fake to note his lies and exaggerations. He has made it his goal to discredit the media continually and pre-emptively, just in case anything negative is reported about him. Ask Leslie Stahl. He couldn't be more open and obvious about being fake. He is the true enemy of the people. Unfortunately, many just can't see it yet.
4
It's as if the USA goes through periods of mass hysteria (examples: McCarthy, Vietnam, Iraq) when the capacity for rational thought goes out the window and a "my team, do or die" spirit infects otherwise decent people. I hear Trump supporters talk about his "integrity" when nonpartisan organizations track daily lies. I read conservatives laud his economic program when it's projected to add a trillion dollars of national debt each year. I watch the moral majority supporting a man who cheated on his wife numerous times. The list could go on. What is it in the American Spirit that creates these moments of mass insanity - the real Trump Derangement Syndrome???
2
Every person at that PA rally must have been born one minute a part from each other...
As the old saying goes there is a sucker born every minute.
His base is not deplorable but they clearly lack basic reasoning skills.
Much of what DJT says is knowable and easy to prove otherwise as false. Often his “ideas” are captured in writing, on tape or video or all three- and yet he still denies it.
Well November 6 is coming, let’s see him explain that away...
VOTE!
4
Bashing the media is what Trump does. He is good at bashing. He's a professional basher. Bashing is really the only successful strategy the man has.
6
Trump takes his audience into a fictional world every time he speaks. He has them thinking that if they imagine what exists, then what they imagine will become reality. It's one of greatest feats of mass delusion that we have seen in our history. Sad for them and a big problem for the rest of us because we need a citizenry that is dealing with a full deck but with Trump playing with their heads, we cannot have it.
His media bashing really could create a mob at one of his rallies that could attack one of his made up demons. Some unlucky reporter could be beaten to death or even tortured to death by a mob.
13
It's why the Christians love and worship him and Pence. Their delusion is now a reality.
3
I recommend watching the entire rally on YouTube. It's over an hour and it's painful to watch, but it will give you a real sense of what's going on out there. Thousands of people wildly cheering this simpleton as he tells lie after lie. Rabidly chanting "Lock her up" and "USA." Reliving over and over the 2016election night. Attacking the journalists. It's stunning and sobering to watch. And deeply disturbing. A real-life horror movie playing out before us.
213
@Erin very very creepy! - I tried to watch but couldn’t! It is deeply disturbing to me the violence that our “president” incites! Please vote to save our democracy in November!!!
1
@Erinyou are correct and the hatred in Trumps face and voice show a man unhinged with no control.
1
@Erin
Well said.
1
The media seems to highlight the worst of trump. Put him on the back page!!!
2
Simple solution. Stop covering this imposter, especially at these ridiculous rallies. He lives to see the red lights and cameras flashing. Don’t give him what he wants.
11
I was at the protest outside the event. Two hundred peaceful protesters cordoned off by 6 mounted police officers, three K-9 officers and approximately 10 additional troopers. These troopers were escorting the rally attendees past us. Pathetic.
11
As long as his name is in the headline, there is no bad press. He uses it all to his benefit. You must cover him bc he is the POTUS, after all, but I personally wish you’d quit with the zoom in photos. It’s hard to read an article while constantly adjusting my hand to block out his visage.
8
Every time I see clips of his rallies I don't watch the buffoon, I focus on the very white crowd behind him. A tribe of hate.
12
When a hard-working reporter winds up in the ER or morgue after one of the malevolent Trump’s hate-fests, the tangerine nightmare will need to face an assault or homicide charge.
19
I have an idea, NYT. Why don't you just stop covering him? He gets all his "free" press from the media. He wouldn't know what to do if you just stopped reporting every single thing he does. He is gaslighting our country big time, so maybe the less they hear it, the better. Just an idea.
7
The false equivalence is always on display when the Trump administration and its conservative allies pretend as if their attacks on the media are no worse than the media's attacks on Trump's presidency. What's missing, of course, is that they considers negative news about Trump to be, in and of itself, an attack/"fake" regardless of its demonstrable truth. Conversely, their attacks on the media are considered "counter-punching" regardless of their demonstrable falsity.
For instance, Trump, Jr., said the DNC's platform was just like the 1930's Nazi platform. If the falsity of that statement is not apparent on its face, I invite you to actually compare the true and see the absurdity.
But when discussing it in the media, conservatives will go on CNN and say something to the affect of how they don't like when ANYONE calls someone else a Nazi, obviously referencing liberal accusations leveled at Trump and his base. Never mind that one can easily find footage of literal, "blood and soil" Nazis, throwing salutes and screaming "Heil Trump." Never mind the nationalism, demonizing of swaths of religious and racial minorities, and "authoritarian tendencies" of Trump himself. The press and the left are somehow just as wrong in making supportable accusations of Nazism as Don, Jr. is in making his unsupportable accusations.
This kind of "both sides are equally extreme" argument is nonsense every time it is raised.
8
Paid actors seated near the Media cage @ Trump's lynchmob rallies. Hired to help whip the crowd into a frenzy, just like a WWF wrestling event.
Why do these supposed 'media haters' politely converse with, and then ask 'hated fake' reporters like Jim Acosta for selfies after the end of the rally?
THEY'RE BEING PAID TO ACT OUT.
9
Who exactly is footing the bill for Trump's political rallies? I realize there is the cost of security, etc., That goes without saying, but I wonder if we are on the hook. He is masquerading these rallies as support for other candidates, but we all know exactly what they are. I'm curious if anyone knows the answer, because I don't think it's legal to use our tax dollars for campaign purposes.
10
Trump's strategy to put the media on the defensive is working. His tax and business fraud, self dealing, payouts to his victims to keep silent and refusal to release his tax returns are all back burner issues instead of being front and center like they should be.
Is it the case that Trump voters don't care about these things? They certainly seem to care when Trump makes these kind of accusations against Hillary. Do they truly grasp what lying manipulator he is?
I think that until the people on Fox and Friends and Sean Hannity are forced to go into a defensive crouch in order to defend Trump's sketchy business practices, his multiple bankruptcies, his extensive payouts for non-disclosure agreements and his refusal to release his tax returns, it is premature to say that his voters know about his lies and don't care.
7
It is very interesting, as well as very scary, to note that while many of our government officials still dispute Russian interference in our election process, as well as its actions against our democracy in general, that Russia is still working at lightning speed continuing its dirty work against our country. And certainly Russia is sharing its information and actions with others such as China, North Korea and Iran who are certainly dreaming up new ways to go against us. Any commander in chief of the United States who is blind to these actions or who chooses not to confront them is as guilty as the parties advancing these actions against the United States. Donald Trump must immediately resign or be impeached - his actions here leave nothing to discuss about whether or not resignation or impeachment is warranted. America is under attack and Donald Trump is doing absolutely nothing about it except waiting for Vladimir Putin to present him with the Order of Lenin.
No Democrat ever said a bad word about Fox News. Hmm. So I guess respect to Democrats is a one way street.
3
@Shamrock Please cite an example of a Democrat elected official referring to Fox News as "the enemy of the people."
These rallies aren't about substance or supporting candidates, they are pity parties for Trump to whinge about how life is so unfair to him. These events are his "drug" of choice -- the adoration of the crowd who give him the "ego" fix that he so desperately needs every hour of his pathetic life.
Nothing of substance on the agenda -- just a cheesy old carnival barker putting on a show for his followers.
13
CNN and the rest of the msm should probably stop sending expensive equipment and tv crews to trump’s fascist rallies. The people who go to them love being in the news and their bad behavior is stimulated by the possibility of publicity. MSM should send a couple of stringers in maga hats or q tee shirts with smart phones. We never learn anything of interest from these events. It’s SOSDD from trump.
8
Trump's security officials, being the adults in the room, uniformly decried the Russian attack on our democracy on the same day that Trump was telling his bonehead supporters that the Russian investigation was a hoax. Trump's ego will not allow him to make any concessions that might question the legitimacy of his election. He event made the stupid argument that the Russians opposed his election. One wonders how long this country can meander along with no leadership.
5
Stop sending cameras and reporters to the rally. Take the oxygen away. He says nothing new and nothing true at these rallies.
14
When, not if, a Trump supporter uses a gun, knife, or bare hands to assault, or God forbid, kill a journalist or other member of the media profession, will Trump be held responsible for inciting that violence. Right now, I'd have to say that he will not. Too many Americans have normalized Trump, his lies, and his dangerous rhetoric. We are in trouble here.
10
@Meg
Ironically the real violence comes from the left, such as the DC shooter, the murderers of innocent cops, BLM protesters looting and burning down cities, college protesters shutting down free speech, etc. And the anger from the left is whipped up by the mainstream media. Think about it.
2
@rpe123
I have, and you have it backwards.
trump and his followers are deplorable. There *is* a split in the politics of this nation, but it's a split between the educated and the uneducated. Anyone who believes trump is truly an idiot:
"He interrupted a 10-minute recollection of his 2016 election night victory to complain that the news networks had intentionally delayed results, claiming that Pennsylvania had been deprived of its chance to take credit for clinching his Electoral College victory."
I don't think that there is any way to correct this situation; trump supporters are irrational and recalcitrant, and trump and Fox News, instead of bringing them to a better place, irresponsibly game them for their market share.
The fun part is going to come when the Republican Party has to come up with a replacement for trump. I vote for Devin Nunes, who is adopting trump's behavior.
To satisfy the trumpkins, the next G.O.P. presidential nominee has to lie as fluently as trump does. trump was never a politician, so he's not constrained by any ethical truth; to counter, he attacks politicians and responsible, intelligent media. trump's recalcitrant behavior has to continue if the G.O.P. wants to retain the trumpkins as a major voting bloc.
We're in for a long decline in the U.S. if the irresponsible trump people prevail.
16
Charles, I enthusiastically support the president, and I'm an attorney with an additional masters degree. Most of the other attorneys in my office also support him. I voted for Clinton and Obama once each, have always listened to NPR and can't stand Rush. And I'm from Massachusetts! Part of the reason I think you and many others are so wrong about why the president got elected and remains so popular is because the media has done such a poor job reporting this story. In my opinion free speech and a free press are the most important elements of our democracy. I don't object to the president's harsh rhetoric because it is rhetoric and because he is correct about how biased the press is. I think you would be just as worked up if all the news outlets were like fox for example. Anyway, just thought I'd point out how wrong I think you are about the education level of Trump supporters. I don't doubt that you're a reasonable and intelligent gentleman and think you would benefit from being a little more circumspect about the media. As an attorney, if seems clear to me that as an institution it has lost its objectivity and is now dominated by advocacy. This is not good for any of us. Criticism of the president would be much more effective if people acknowledged that the substance of his position was correct or at least reasonable, but his rhetoric was too extreme. Have a great weekend!
1
New York Times’ readers should look at the size of the crowds that the President draws and look at the enthusiasm he generates. Then they should soberly reflect on the events of November 8, 2016. President Trump is campaigning right now. He is campaigning so that the Republican Party will do well this November. He is also campaigning for his own re-election in November 2020. Wise Democrats should reflect on the notion of a sixty five ton M1A2 Abrams MBT coming straight at them and take appropriate action.
7
Trump is spending the vast majority of his time watching TV (and yes, CNN as well as his sycophants at FOX), playing golf, eating food unfit for human consumption and campaigning - all on OUR time. His small cadre of minions is meanwhile coming up with distractions, immoral actions, illegal collaboration, terrible economic policy and grossly wasting taxpayer money (read: stealing from us in their tax cut for the rich).
THIS LEAVES NO TIME FOR THE DUTIES THAT A REAL PRESIDENT WOULD NORMALLY HAVE TO PERFORM. Just as in his failed "reality TV show", he farts a proclamation and leaves the work, undirected, to his minions - all of whom should be mortally ashamed to do his bidding.
Is it even legal to spend many millions of taxpayer dollars for purely partisan political pandering (alliteration intended, as in "pig")? That's only one of his "PP tapes".
I personally very much resent being told what to do, whom to listen to, how to vote and fed infinite lies by a very mentally ill narcissistic sociopath and his equally demented family.
VOTE!
10
In reply to RealTRUTH AK
Republicans heed your call. See you at the polls this November 6th.
Trump is setting up his followers to not believe the news coverage if he, his family, and close associates are found guilty of financial crimes and conspiracy. Let's hope the majority of Americans are not so gullible.
17
Why is he allowed to make accusations without stating what the lies are and providing evidence to support the claim? His wingman, Hannity, is getting away with the same thing.
20
I love wearing my New York Times baseball hat around town - I get a lot of compliments and people sometimes ask me where I got the hat - I tell them I got it online and I wear the hat to show my support of the free press. I also tell them that I am a proud subscriber to the wonderfully informative New York Times.
In my book you are a great Friend to All Americans ! Thank you for the important work that you do !
29
I would get so board of listening to the same speech or being told the same thing over and over again. I’m surprised, Trump fan or not, that more people don’t.
6
When is his blaming of the press at rallies going to inspire a violent mob act against a press member in attendance? It will be his fifth avenue moment.
15
Have faith in Trump he will make America great. The only thing standing in his way is the Bill of Rights (especially the Freedom of the Press part) and of course, the majority of the American people. Get rid of the Bill of Rights and all the doubting Thomases and we'll be home free!
5
Next time he holds a rally, the media should let Fox News and his other right wing favourites attend and the rest should boycott the event. Deprive him and his baying crowds of the oxygen. He goes through his greatest hits on autopilot at these rallies so let him call Fox "fake news". I'm sure they'll love it.
I do hope CNN is providing some form of security or support to Jim Acosta who is continually singled out for Trump's hatred. These are worrying times for the US in ways I which no one could have imagined a few years ago.
23
this is a man who, more than anybody else in our country, needs a psychological workup. it is becoming more and more apparent that his mind is not working properly. what president plays like a robot at his rallies? what president has a 1 minute attention span? what president doesn't heed a word of advice from his team? i do not suppose there is any way to demand a psychiatric review of his mental capacities, but i cannot be the only person who notices his mental decline. and i'm very fearful, as a result.
26
A former family member of Donald Trump reported that Trump had a book of Hitler's words.
I have read Hitler's words to make try with others to make sure that a person like Hitler never comes to power in America.
Read the following Hitler quotes in order to judge if D. Trump behaves and believes in these ideas, ways and means.
Hitler's words: "It is the press, above all, which wages a positively fanatical and slanderous struggle, tearing down everything which can be regarded as a support of national independence, cultural elevation, and the economic independence of the nation."
"How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don't think."
"Strength lies not in defense but in attack."
"The great masses of the people will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one."
"Success is the sole earthly judge of right and wrong."
"The broad masses of a population are more amenable to the appeal of rhetoric than to any other force."
"The victor will never be asked if he told the truth. It is not truth that matters, but victory."
" I do not see why man should not be just as cruel as nature."
"If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed."
"Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it."
"All propaganda has to be popular and has to accommodate itself to the comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to reach."
23
Trump isn't just the worst president in American history, but probably the worst human being to ever hold elective office - a despicable, vengeful, vindictive, angry man who, it seems, spends every waking hour trying to figure out how to destroy anyone who dares disagree with him. If only the vast majority of Americans who hate his guts show up at the polls...
23
On August 19, 1934
Hitler was elected
President of Germany.
1
@Karen Adele
And surprise, surprise, it was the economy that helped him get there. Bolstered by creating targets for his fans to spew venom and hate at.
Why is the media taking all these insults repeatedly. For a change, they should ignore this madman, instead of reporting everything about it. They did this during the election too...instead of ignoring his raves and rants, giving him free publicity. Please give us all a break and shut out this crazy person.
23
@Sandy
You have a point but that would be passive censorship. No matter how painful it is to deal with this president, they are duty bound to report on the news, good, bad, or indifferent.
1
Emily, what the people of this great country needs to do is write a joint letter to Mr Trump saying : "Media is not the 'enemy of the people', Mr Trump. You and your supporters are."
We should also add in that letter, "Please resign now Mr. Trump before the upcoming midterms. Because if you don't, our Dem members in congress will force you to resign after your impeachment."
Well, till January 20th,2017 that could be a midsummer or a midwinter's dream.
But after a passage of 17 months, this idea that another of our presidents after Nixon and Bill Clinton could be impeached for hordes of 'obstruction of justice' cases seem like a crystal clear outcome once Mr. Mueller finishes his job that was specifically handed over to him by Trump's appointee Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein himself.
So the fact remains that Trump has himself to blame for this self-inflicted harm that he brought upon himself by being so greedy for power.
The facts, that are being unearthed by Mr. Mueller from his own investigation and from the trial of Trump's confidante and Ex-campaign manager Paul Manafort,will reveal that Trump was more than just a passenger in the campaign bus that took him to many places in this country before his election.
No wonder just to deflect our attention from the coming fallout of the trial, Trump is engaged in a vicious attack mode against the free press. Because he knows that if anyone brings his authoritarian dynasty down, it'll be the media outlets like NYT and CNN, WP et Al.
2
When the media -- including the NY Times -- stops covering these events and pools their resources to send a single pool reporter, he'll stop having them. Meanwhile, he's loving the free press which does his work by broadcasting his pathetic 'rallys' to the rest of the Deplorables around the country, creating the impression that he has something important -- or intelligent - to say. Hiltler would have loved to have such a fawning 'free press.'
25
Trump doesn't like the media because their job is to bring the truth to the American people.
Why would a money-laundering, pathological liar, demogogue and con man, who is under investigation by the DOJ, want to have the people know the truth?
15
I can't understand how this state of affairs is allowed to continue. Rallies for his ego in which he lies and incites violence towards others. All the time.
The whole country. The United States of America is unable to say boo to this authoritarian who is stealing the country, trashing the constitution, and inciting violence.
Where are those checks and balances can no one find them?
7
Maybe the media should stop covering his rallies, if he’s going to be abusive. Think about it, the one thing he really hates is to be ignored. It’s not like anything newsworthy, is going to come from him. All he does is rant on and on about the same things, the fake media, the Russia “hoax” and Hillary. Send your reporters to cover something of real interest.
9
The Trump Press Reporters should withdraw from his political rallies, leaving just a skeleton crew of a pool reporter or two and a few cameras. Deprive him of that oxygen he uses to flame the fire in his devoted, deplorable fans.
9
It is shame that he is not behaving like the president of the whole nation. Instead he always finds enemies everywhere, including press. He is only expert in rallies for his base. He is just the president to his base and not for everybody in this country. How pity! Very BAD!
8
Trump is like a train wreck. Some of us just can't look away. Articles like this are "click bait." Time to stop giving the buffoon what he craves....attention. Consider it.
9
Trumps rally's are like WOW.
Barnum and Bailey circus, WWF wresting, and standup Rodney Dangerfield "I Don't Get No Respect" I look in the background of these rally's and see the film Children Of The Corn, its SCARY. This is the Realest reality TV. Bob, tell the American people what they won.
18
A fake president making fake statements about REAL people... hard to lend any credence to anything he says.
6
Give it a break MSM news cartel , you brought this on yourself .
President Trump is calling you out.
Don't be so ignorant to think it's just Trump supporters, MSM has taken
serious hits to it credibility long before Trump arrived .
Your group hasn't been a free press for some time now.
5
Independent Voter,
And where do you get your news? RT or Sputnik?
11
Watching even five minutes of this rally is terrifying. How can this lying, rambling, fear-mongering, dangerous man be the president of the United States of America?
32
"Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do." Benjamin Franklin
17
A worthless stone passed off as a diamond is a fake. Equally, a news organization telling us it provides objective news coverage when the reality is it delivers nothing more than biased opinion (all slanted against Trump) is fake
Folks here should get out of their bubble and avoid the echo chamber effect. If you did so, you would find that you are now in the minority in our country and have been deluded by the fake news you have chosen to follow
3
Lecturing OTHER READERS?
Bless your heart. I know you mean well.
But you are off topic.
2
If the president would start telling the truth, the news coverage would be vastly improved for him.
9
Quit covering these "rallies". They make Jerry Springer look like high culture.
14
Trump is by far the nation's worst perpetrator of "fake news."
26
Calling the media fake news because they didn't call an election result quick enough? Uh, anybody remember "Dewey Defeats Truman?"
He's now 18 months into his presidency. Why is he still holding political rallies? And what kind of sad sack actually attends one of these things? I would attend a speech by an acting president to hear them address actual issues, but these are high school pep rallies gone mad. Jefferson High School Football Rules!!!
8
A dangerous demagogue... Must be impeached before we have our 2nd civil war, not not farfetched by any means...
13
Some people really just are that stupid. How anyone can believe his cult of personality is beyond me. But the most important takeaway here is that most of these people will turn out to vote. Which means the rest of us need to do so as well.
8
Fake Trump bashes "fake news." This is easier to figure out than Trump presumes.
6
As Charles Blow said, Trump doesn't want free press, he wants free propaganda. It couldn't be made clearer than this video. Sean Hannity is a frequent visitor to the White House. Shep Smith? Probably not.
https://youtu.be/LHjFS5f1IT0
8
Look at from a cynic's viewpoint.
Trump wouldn't be bashing the press unless he knew he could get away with it, because there is a certain amount of truth to it.
People can read. They can see how the media lies and manipulates the public but the media machine is so sure of their ability to sway opinion that they assume the "people" will soon forget. Nobody in America wants to admit that our media industry has become corrupt. It's the basis for our American freedom and way of life. The freedom of the first amendment made us great. Nobody wants to admit it is corrupt.
2
@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus
Please identify these media lies.
7
@dude
I've tried, right here, on this article. The NYT won't post them. I doubt they will even post my response to you, which is a form a 'fake news' in itself.
1
@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus - You sound like Trump, claiming that the big bad NYT prevents you from doing anything.
btw you sure spend a lot of time (and some money) on a paper you profess to hate.
1
I suspect many of there trumpers are evangelicals who also believe in lies and fairy tales. So, Trump as liar-in-chief found the perfect crowd. Except, he is a very dangerous man worse than any one of the preachers who enrich themselves on so-called religion . Nixon does not even come close to Trump. He had some problems and did obstruct justice but Trump is by far the worst and a clear and present danger.
8
Richard Nixon coulda used Trump's insights: Watergate is simply fake news created by the disgusting Bernstein and Woodward.
Problem solved!
12
When you lose Ringling Bros, the peanut gallery has to go somewhere.
6
I am confused. Why does the the Times refer to Trump making repeatedly false claims as inaccuracies as opposed to lies?
I can understand how making a claim once that proves to be false can be considered an inaccuracy. However, when you repeatedly make the same false claim after it has been disproven, doesn't the "inaccuracy" become a lie?
14
Every candidate endorsed by Trump should have to affirm that they support the First Amendment. They should also be asked why they accepted an endorsement from someone who doesn't. It is the first amendment, to the U.S. Constitution, after all.
4
@Chris Who knew that respect for the role of a free press would become a litmus test for candidates? But I agree it will be and should be.
1
While I realize The New York Times is the New York City paper, it is in many ways a National, besides being a worldwide paper! I couldn't agree more that our President Trump is from hunger and in many ways the worse President we have ever had! Even the thought of him as President, boggles the mind! Yet, he nonetheless has millions of American supporters, and I always notice there is a dearth of commenters from the south, Midwest, and flyover country on this thread! Sad.
53
@Counter Measures That is because "president" Trump's base does not care about understanding all sides of an argument, and they completely buy his claim that any news outlet that does not stroke his narcissistic ego is an "enemy of the people."
2
@Counter Measures
Trust me, we folks from Minnesota are mad as H.
3
@Counter Measures
"I always notice there is a dearth of commenters from the south, Midwest, and flyover country on this thread! Sad."
Greetings from Georgia, Counter measures! I'm a moderate Republican who NEVER supported or voted for President Trump. I'm a regular reader of the NYT. But you NYC folks really need to drop the "Flyover country" stuff. It plays right into the hands of the manipulative, superficial, chronic liar who occupies the White House. Fact is there are people all over the U.S who cannot wait to turn him and his henchmen out of office, legally of course.
2
Trump is not a president in any sense but a hate-monger who is bringing to life the worst impulses of our nation. He hates the very idea of liberty and justice for all, but especially the truth, which explains his maliciousness toward the media. The grave problem is that millions of Americans apparently believe his lies and mirror his spitefulness toward the free press, which our founders inscribed into the Constitution. We must rid the country of this cancer and return to a system of true democracy where everyone is created equal and facts prevail. We don’t want a mini-dictatorship that considers all brown-skinned immigrants as criminals.
8
There is obvious panic in Trump's voice now. He clearly feels the walls closing in and makes a desperate ranting effort to delude his base with wild accusations. This is his only defense as the evidence and testimonies emerge.
Perhaps Putin will dangle threats and protections since conspiracy requires two parties and Putin could join in obfuscating or leak evidence that causes more chaos in US political life.
Meanwhile, boasting of the economy while a trillion dollar deficit, Trump appears to be leading America into the same bankruptcy that forced him to cozy up to the Russian oligarchs & their money laundering deals years ago.
More than sad...grotesque & devastating.
5
The media’s incessant coverage of Trump from the beginning have played a huge part in his rise to power.
It’s unsettling to recall msnbc with an empty Trump podium for an hour before he would appear.
Ratings = $$$$, and that equals Trump coverage.
There are repercussions for mindlessly chasing dollars.
6
Yes. And Mr. Acosta should report the news not be the news. CNN does him and us a disservice by sending its stars and crew to these fascist rallies. By injecting themselves into the trump zeitgeist they change it. And they do it for click bait. They need to stop endangering their employees.
1
We are watching an insane person having a mental breakdown. From the G7 fiasco till now it has been a sickening downward spiral and we all know the next few weeks will be crazier than the last.
7
Trump’s personal attacks on individual reporters began early in his career in his 40s when in the early 1990s at a black tie event in a restaurant (in front of witnesses), he poured red wine down the back of the dress suit of reporter Marie Brenner who had written a critical article about Trump and his divorce where she noted that he kept a book of Hitler’s speeches near his bed (never denied). Later Trump boasted about the episode and called her in his 1997 book, “an unattractive reporter.”
His contempt for reporters and news organizations has continued and accelerated including incitement of violence so that reporters have to be escorted out of rallies and various reporters have been threatened by Trump supporters.
Break it down into numbers by his tweets alone with about 1000 insults against news organizations and shows. (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/01/28/upshot/donald-trump-twitt...
1. About 250 individual insults aimed at more than 60 individual journalists, columnists and news hosts insulted, including Megyn Kelly, Chuck Todd, and George Will.
2. Almost 450 insults were aimed at the “mainstream media.”
3. Another 700 or so insults directed at 30 different organizations insulted (top 5 were New York Times with 215, CNN with 150+, NBC and Washington Post with 50+, and Politico with almost 30).
From tweets to rallies to the White House podium. Dictatorship on the rise.
12
What a snowflake.
3
It'll never happen but...
What if all media simply stopped covering this bozo for a week or two? Would this cause the clown to change his act?
8
The reason why Trump hates the press is because they call him on what comes out of his own mouth. The lies and half truths of mis-information that Trump blatantly spouts is believed by himself and his followers until he's quoted (or shown on video) by the media. The truth will set you free; but not according to Trump.
4
The media needs to go on the offense and fight back against Trump.
6
All readers need to do to understand the truth that Trump has clumsily expressed, and Nobel Prize winner Noam Chomsky also has pointed out is to scan the headlines of articles on the daily online sample of the NY Times articles for a week. And record how many are negative against not only Trump, but also how many accuse those that differ with the Times position on any issue of being racists, xenophobes, anti Semitic, misogamist, Nazis, idiots … The results will prove that the major media are definitely "fake" because they do not report or comment on anything objectively, but rather selectively choose facts and omit or hid in on the 4th page or 3rd person discredit/slander contrary ones (ie "The Southern Poverty Law Center says that group are Nazis") and then 'make up a story' to support the 1% open borders ideology and the meme that most Americans are racist idiots. Who our leaders, therefore, have a right to defy, violate the majority will and interest and shove the 90% into poverty until average Americans are 'put in their place' and are "equal" to the no rights slave workers who inhabit the global south and Asia. Now the media could very simply regain their credibility by objectively reporting the news and giving equal time and emphasis to opposing opinions. But they will not do that, because they are paid by the 1% through advertising to brain wash the public and if they ever defied the rich and powerful the Times editors and journalists would be without a job.
2
@winthrop staples
Gee, I wonder how many positive articles, opinions, and comments were written on Fox News about President Obama? Want to compare notes?
1
This is a pretty good synthesis of what is in the minds of many North Americans who are not happy with their lives and believe that condition to be unchangeable. There's no other explanation for it other than that this a troll who's aim is to spread as much uncertainty and doubt as possible.
3
@winthrop staples I don’t understand why you would read any publication you consider to be a purveyor of “fake news”. Seems like a waste of valuable time.
3
He has nothing else to offer...his meetings have been worthless, achieving getting dead bodies back to the US, yes, but that is it. Pompeo has said the truth, that there is still a long way to do. And as per the Washington Post, North Korea is continuing to build missiles. How anyone thought anything would come of a meeting by two leaders who are known for their unexpected outbursts is hard to fathom. This President is childish beyond imagination and his minions love him. Sadly this segment of the US is growing it seems. Hoping I am proven wrong.
6
Trump has to keep the truth as far from his base as possible. He is taking advantage of the right wing extremist media and online entities to keep his rabid base alive. Nothing can touch Trump supporters. They will go down fighting.
9
"They will go down fighting." ...an acceptable proposition.
1
This is a frightening time for America.
It is slowly becoming like a dictatorship, we have to follow thru with the checks and balances for this administration.The republicans have to do what is right, and not be afraid of Trump, which they are.
7
Remember when Trump said he "likes stupid people?"
Remember the old saying, "It takes one, know one."
11
@Dave....Just Dave he said he likes the poorly educated.
4
@Dave....Just Dave
He says he likes the uneducated and he has good reason to for obvious reasons,
7
The NYT headline is "Trump Devotes Majority of Rally to Bashing the News Media". I watched the rally, and the headline isn't even remotely true. Now I think Trump is a terrible president, but I don't like being lied to by my favorite paper. Stop it, guys.
3
Stefan,
With all due respect, I find your comment somewhat disingenuous.
If, as you say, you think Trump is a terrible president, I don't think you'd be able to stomach watching one of his rallies in its entirety ( nor do I know why you'd want to watch it.)
5
@L
Stefan refutes the nyt headline with what he observed. And your response is to call him a liar about watching the rally? Can you tell me how long the rally was and how long the President ripped the media? More than an hour of talk time and not more than 5-7 minutes talking about fake news overall. How's that a majority except in an alternate reality. And you wonder why people don't believe the nytimes anymore.
2
Frustrated,
I didn't call Stefan a liar.
I said that I found his comment somewhat disingenuous, considering that he thinks Trump is a "terrible president."
He also said that the New York Times was lying, and that it was his favorite paper, which slso seems disingenuous.
1
Trump is lying. He loves every single itty bit of the fake news. It's about HIM! All and any press is good press. It gets his brand name on the TV and in the headlines every single day. You couldn't ask for better brand exposure.
The Trump leaves office, his name will be stuck on new residential towers, hotels, hats, sneakers, dog collars, ping pong balls - the list is endless and that is what Trump - I mean T-R-U-M-P - is just itching to do.
You thought this whole POTUS gig, thing was about love for and service of country? It's all about the grift, all about the money to be made. The potential of the Trump brand is huge for the Trump family. They are all counting on it.
So keep on coming Fake News! The Trumps will take it any way they can. The name recognition world wide is gonna be huge.
7
I have been told that the Russians meddle in elections by setting up fake social media accounts and ads that sow division and strife in our society. While I have no doubt that Trump colluded with the Russians who have funded many of his foreign ventures in the past, I also find the conversation about Russian interference absurd. Just last night I saw a commercial on TV claiming that the Democrats in my state want to flood the state with violent gangs and drugs. This ad was paid for by the Republican Governors Association. I'm just saying that the Russian meddling pales in comparison to the national campaigns of hate that the GOP has been spreading ever since Obama got elected. Now, I know that it is easier to externalize this but it is also too easy. The fundamental problem is not in Russia, it is here and Trump with his rallies is just the logical conclusion of where this sort of thing leads. The Russians were just savvy enough to exploit it for their purposes.
11
@The Hawk
They also have him by his cofeves
3
So obviously sick in the head.
23
Well, we finally know what Trump and Putin discussed in Helsinki: Putin directed Trump to destroy the free press.
17
Once again America is the laughingstock of the world. Republicans are crazy; Democrats are bumbling, leaderless and incompetent. I am afraid this will eventually come crashing down in violence. It happened during the Vietnam War; it happened during the civil rights awakening; it happened during the Civil War. History will repeat itself in America. Pretty soon extreme people are going to boil over and start using their guns instead of their words. I feel sorry for you.
1
The lack of a cohesive and proper response from the Republican party to denounce his statements and threats against the press is very disturbing.
Like I have said before, every Republican who has not denounced his actions should be voted from office, and their names engraved in granite as supporters of an administration who wants to turn this country into a totalitarian nation.
18
Simply summed up, Trump: not exactly the "thinking man's" president.
4
Rightfully so. Keep it up Mr. Trump!
1
Obama and the entire MSM laughed at Romney’s assertion that Russia was our top enemy. Who is the fool now? I’m waiting for an apology to Romney. I’m still waiting. And you want me to trust the media?
1
@Shamrock I think you have it wrong...it is Trump who has laughed at this assertion about Russia. And further, how does someone like Romney being quoted in the Press lead to the Press being guilty? I do not get it.
3
Pot calling the kettle black. The truth we all should have learned after 18 months of this presidency is this excuse for a human is always 'projecting' as he tells lie after lie in our name. Shameful.
9
No public figure can be believed; no trusted institution can be trusted; life is adversarial; society is rotten. That’s how you win a Pulitzer.
I hate to tell you, Mr. Barlette, but Mr. Trump IS the swamp.
6
The Republican Extreme Right began as the John Birtch Society whose dedicated Enemy was Communism. Goldwater ran on this fear. This gradually morphed into the main GOP that is based on some enemy that is a Threat to America. When Communism died, the final solution to a permanent enemy was to make our own government (liberalism) the enemy. Now that has morphed into the Media as the enemy, the very institution whose job is to reveal our enemy. This is like making the detective in a murder the enemy. The OJ Simpson Trial was a great example of this where OJ turned the police into the enemy....Trump uses the OJ strategy. Turn Meuller and Media into the enemy...and you may get acquitted like OJ.
7
@Ed Conley Very astute. The fever pitch incites and captures the mindset of so many fearful, paranoids in the US. Apparently this is Trump's mindset as well. The denouncements of Americans as Communists, and so on -- the legacy of the Republican Party for sure.
3
Barletta is famous or infamous for his immigration views as mayor of Hazleton PA.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/09/lou-barletta-pennsylvania-immigra...
2
Most of Trump's complaints were not very believable. But the one about Russia seemed right. Only in this news climate can a summit between Russia and the US be a cause of such bellicose over reaction by the press.
1
@c harris
Secret meetings without transcripts or others present is a NATIONAL SECURITY risk. Do you understand???
4
I am just glad that both of my parents who were world war 2 vets,are not alive to see this travesty.
36
A former family member of Donald Trump reported that Trump had a book of Hitler's words.
I have read Hitler's words to make try with others to make sure that a person like Hitler never comes to power in America.
Read the following Hitler quotes in order to judge if D. Trump behaves and believes in these ideas, ways and means.
Hitler's words: "It is the press, above all, which wages a positively fanatical and slanderous struggle, tearing down everything which can be regarded as a support of national independence, cultural elevation, and the economic independence of the nation."
"How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don't think."
"Strength lies not in defense but in attack."
"The great masses of the people will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one."
"Success is the sole earthly judge of right and wrong."
"The broad masses of a population are more amenable to the appeal of rhetoric than to any other force."
"The victor will never be asked if he told the truth. It is not truth that matters, but victory."
" I do not see why man should not be just as cruel as nature."
"If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed."
"Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it."
"All propaganda has to be popular and has to accommodate itself to the comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to reach."
4
I am really torn between wanting to have the media largely ignore his nonsense and hence not feed his sick ego and yet feeling that we must have the enormity of the sickness with which he is infecting the country exposed in all its horror. Which is better for saving our democracy?
15
@theresa
He is out of touch with reality. There is no choice but to oppose him.
1
Communism is gone. ISIS is defeated. The immigrants are deported...where is the Enemy now? Trump can't say the government is the enemy like Reagan did to get elected because he and his party is the government. And Hillary and Obama are gone, so where is the Enemy that has no second? Ah....the Media. This is like a protestant saying the Catholic Church is the enemy. Where can you go that the enemy is not. Where can Trump go that his enemy is not. We swim in the ocean of Media. So Trump like Moses divided the sea and defines one side as being the real sea and the other side being a fake sea, the enemy of the people.
5
Why does he deserve all this airtime? So we can hear his lies and insults? How is this news?
14
Frankly I am very tired of the repeated reporting of Trump's rallies and his mostly insane tweets. Close behind are his endless weekend trips to his business properties at tax payers expense, to which I add the funds wasted to further his political ambitions at his rallies. He far outspends prior presidents, and it started just weeks after his inauguration.
Here are a few reasons why his political events should be overlooked by the mainstream press:
1. The media is a soundboard in reaching the Trump supporters who do not attend rallies. It furthermore delights them because of the media's harsh criticism of Trump. It's a stimulant for the Trumpists, who delight in their Schadenfreude.
2. Trump counts on the free media coverage of his antics - its free publicity directed at his base.
3. Absence of coverage by the mainstream media and its influence may slow down Trump's cadence of rallies. Preaching only to the choir is a disincentive.
4. His continued bashing of potential democratic candidates for office will not be heard by fence sitting voters.
5. It would free the media on reporting on more consequential events.
6. Much the same can be said about the media coverage of his tweets. The ones that need to be reported are those that have potentially negative impact on his persona that can be politically exploited.
10
What a baby! He truly seems incapable of focusing on anything other than himself. So sad!
14
it would be helpful if we were able to actually see the size of his crowd - can’t tell if the photo in the article is the sum total and if the rest of the hall is empty or full. it would bring a little context.
11
Michelle Neumann,
I also wonder if he pays people to attend his rallies.
When he announced his candidacy for president in Trump Tower he reportedly paid people to come and cheer. These are the actions of a con artist.
12
who's paying for this tour of propaganda pep rallies?
30
You are. I am. The American taxpayers are footing the bill. Put another way, your hard-earned money is going to help Trump bash the press, attack our democratic institutions and weaken our country. Feel good about that? No? VOTE!
4
@bob lesch
Surely Bob you must know he isn't footing the bill.
Is the president trying to start a riot or to get a journalist killed? Isn't there a law against, as it were, 'rabble-rousing'?
33
@DRM
I agree, you raise a very good point. In my view, Trump is truly trying to simultaneously goad his faithful into attacking the press corps and intimidate the press corps into modifying their coverage. Trump's actions are truly ridiculous, and dangerous such that he could be charged with disorderly conduct if God forbid the rally would have turned into an all out physical assault on the press corps. Under Pennsylvania law, for disorderly conduct, "a person is guilty of riot, a felony of the third degree, if he participates with two or more others in a course of disorderly conduct: (1) with intent to commit or facilitate the commission of a felony or misdemeanor." The press should at least illuminate the inherent fact that Trump's actions could generate criminal charges if a riot/melee breaks out.
11
Advice to the media: ignore Trump's rallies. You already know what he's going to say; why put your reporters in jeopardy?
14
Nothing Trump says or does has any effect on people who have already made their minds against him. It might get people who have made their minds for him or are undecided either to do nothing or go against him.
It might be annoying to be shown his nonsense over and over, but so long as it is not helping him...
2
The only thing this idiot can do is denigrate and criticize. Must have been some childhood.
I clearly understand why his family sent him to boarding school. I can turn him off. They must have wanted to run away from home!
8
You would think people would tire of this but trump manages to work them up into a lathered frenzy. Wow, what a way to lead! Blood will be on Trumps hands if he continues his methods.
3
I'm not a fan of Trump but I do find the mainstream media hideously biased against him. And it's a turn-off for me. I read less NYT as a result, for example.
2
@abdul74 I find Trump and his followers hideously biased against anyone who isn't part of their tribe.
6
@abdul74
And Fox News wasn't hideously biased against any Democrat? Obama, both Clintons. Do you remember that, it's still ongoing? Do you?
4
The press should simply skip covering these pep rallies. No news occurs at these events. Why subject yourself to taunts and worse?
13
we are witnessing the death throes of an earlier uglier version of America
6
News organizations should stop covering Trump's divisive rallies.
All he does is rant like a crazy old man. He isn't offering anything of substance, so why bother covering him.
I'd like to see what would happen when the lying narcissist gazes out into the crowds at his next version of "hate week" and there are no reporters around.
18
Very good prescription. News organizations also should stop covering his tweets. They too are rants, not news.
5
Hamlin,
Except when he uses Twitter to obstruct justice in plain sight.
4
@Hamlin
Why people haven't boycotted Twitter is beyond belief as well.
Makes me wonder where the colloge voice is in all of this. Where are the young people of this country who could be speaking out with optimistic, sane voices? Where are the peaceful protests? It's their futures that are being compromised, after all. Or maybe I'm just not seeing it because I dumped FB months ago. Doubt it.
63
@liberalinTX
What about #metoo, Black Lives Matter, the womens march, the march for science, the counter-protests at Charlottesville ... The voices and peaceful protests are out there, populated by young and old alike... Could there be more, perhaps.... but lets not dismiss what is going on
1
@liberalinTX, the young have Apple as their god who at one trillion in net worth is virtually omnipotent, their world is complete, leaving us to deal with rising temperatures and dunderhead on our own. This explains why it’s impossible to get an iPad out of a kid’s hands.
@liberalinTX check out Noam Chompsky speaking at St. Olaf College in May. He starts speaking at 10 minutes in. Renewed hope!
This guy is insane. What else is there left to be said? Time to put a stop to this would be a nice idea but that option seems left up to your November election outcome which ISN'T EVEN GUARANTEED!!! I apologize. I get carried away sometimes. Never has a foreign leader stirred up the kind of emotions as the ones I feel for Trump on a daily basis. My blood pressure hasn't been the same ever since 2016, right after Halloween. I mean, I would love to bury my head in the sand being canadian and all but this is becoming a global problem more and more.
13
In a certain sense. trump is missing his calling as POTUS. He would make a great preacher bringing in, as Christ taught, millions upon millions of dollars to help the poor, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger. You know things like that. Oh, wait, that will be pence's job. I wonder if pence will need $1,700.00 a piece dress shirts to do the job. Whoops. Make that 2,220.00. He would have to have his name and title emblazoned on every shirt, on every article of clothing he owns. Oh well, the times, they are booming. We can do it, can't we.
3
Formally our country's most infamous huckster, PT Barnum, reputedly was quoted as having said, "Never underestimate the gullibility of the American public." Which leads me to another rather oft-repeated quote, "Those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them."
4
Not Barnum... H.L. Mencken.
The quote is commonly paraphrased as: "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public."
He also said: “As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
Right on both counts.
Disgraceful! While yesterday his top advisors and intelligence agencies directors (Bolton, Coates, FBI, etc) make a united presentation to the nation regarding actions to combat the undisputed interference of Russia in our elections through cyberwar, where is the President? the president is MIA, and on his way to another rally in Pennsylvania to have his ego stroked by his adoring acolytes: he's on his way to throwing more red meat to his rabid base by spewing more lies, misrepresentations and venom. We need a president who will lead, protect the nation and be in sync with what his intelligence agencies report, not a coward who still to this day is visceraly unable to openly and unambigously admit that Russia is interfering with our national politics. What does Russia have over him? Hopefully Mr. Muller will be able to tell us and the sooner the better.
7
I'm as far from being a Trump supporter as it's possible to be, but you might consider cutting the guy some slack. First of all, he's patently mentally ill. The fact that he's still in office is our collective bad.
He's also scared to death. The noose is tightening on him. He knows he's going to end up in a very bad place. He's in denial about it.
(One hopes his senior political supporters -- both cabinet and most senior Republican "legislators" -- will end up sharing quarters with him. His "supporters" can crawl back under the rocks from which they swarmed.)
He escapes to those rallies so that he can play president... to hide from reality in plain sight. He's not fit to make decisions. Nor should he be permitted to.
We should make sure that Mueller's team gets what they need to facilitate Trump's transition to non-government life. At that point, he -- and his senior enablers -- will be dealing with one prosecutor or another for the rest of their lives.
Let's keep our eyes on the prize... redeeming our country from treason.
1
Congress needs to step up and stop this deranged man. He is a threat to national security with his constant lies and threats.
4
Trump: Irresponsible, disgusting, obnoxious, a total embarrassment to our country, and a very negative, destructive man.
Down to the bottom of Tricky Trump's barrel of Deception. But what else is a guilty man to do, except to convince a bunch of gullible suckers that truth-tellers are liars, and liars are truth-tellers.
Not the first demagogue in history or in the world of current dictatorships to denigrate journalists, so why would a man who grew up with a silver spoon in his big mouth and went to the Wharton School need to act this way?
4
Trump will play the "forever the victim" golden oldie until the cows come home. The people who identify with him see themselves as victims also. Even though they have the highest standard of living on the planet. He is their savior. Turning his followers against the media is, as he said, just a means to an end. He plays them like a well-oiled fiddle.
19
Was it at this event he said it was the Queen who kept him waiting 15 minutes when he visited her at Windsor for tea? We can see with our own eyes he kept the frail 92 year old woman standing out there almost 15 minutes waiting in the hot sun.
I'm calling for a mental health evaluation for him. ASAP.
9
@Mary
His King, Vladimir Putin, made him wait about 30 minutes in Helsinki as I recall. Notice that is not mentioned?
3
In Trump's mind, what he thinks is the truth (not that it is).
Therefore, anyone who disagrees with him, or says anything negative about him, is "fake news."
He is the "fake news."
The media would be wise to send single reporter and video camera to each of his rallies. The feed could be made available to any news agency that wanted a copy. Most of the time, what he says is complete nonsense.
In the same vein, it is silly to spend a great deal of time analyzing his tweets. It would be better just to post them in a sidebar, and only comment on the few that are worthy of he effort.
Quit giving this bozo coast to coast, 24/7 coverage as if he had something meaningful to say.
7
@Joe From Boston
BINGO Joe
My new rallying cry:
FAKE PRESIDENT!
11
"Fake President" is good. Also, time for "Lock Him Up"
6
@Sam Kanter
You will lose if you descend to his level.
Illegitimate is what he truly is and truth is truth
Vote to dump Trump needs to be the message
"President-Pretend" is my choice.
President Trump gained notoriety and popularity through the media and his television show. He spent most of his time making fun of or excoriating his presidential rivals. Now that he's president, he can't take the "heat" that goes with the job! The only reporting he accepts are from the few news organizations that praise him continually! The mainstream news agencies should boycott the President's rallies. The president gets away with hyperbole, slanders and incendiary rhetoric at his rallies, and is never submitted to serious questioning. Trump is the only president in the past 50+ years who has not held periodic press conferences! In fact, Trump has held only had ONE official press conference (after his first month in office, where he was grossly unprepared)! Trump needs to at least "try" to act like a real president and have regular news conferences like every other president in the last 50+ years! Perhaps his adoring fans will lose their enthusiasm when its proven that he can't take the heat of the presidency.
101
@Silvio M
Silvio, he's trying as hard as he can. He even asked Putin to help with private lessons but they're so expensive and Putin's command of English is little better than Donald's.
Please, Give him a break.
@Silvio M
I couldn’t agree more. I’ve often wondered what would trump do if no one covered his rallys. He’d lose it. He demands attention...withhold it and he’d become a different person.
@Silvio M While true that this deplorable President does not hold many press conference to "control" his narrative, the late, great Helen Thomas was one of the few to speak out that Bush W was not accessible to the press, did not hold that many conferences, etc.
Maybe the best thing that the press—the media—can do is simply ignore Trump. MSNBC made a good point this morning when one of their guests said that he would send reporters to these Trump campaign political rallies, but only report what was really newsworthy. The only thing newsworthy last night was the stark divide between Trump and his security advisors made very clear. Disturbingly clear. The rest of what Trump said was not particularly newsworthy: Trump has said things like his media bashing since before his election a zillion times. Why give him time and space to keep repeating it? Trump craves the attention. A little like Senator Joseph McCarthy, Trump has shown that he is nothing without the media. We already know he lies. I don’t believe a word that he says and simply skip reading about ANYTHING he says.
7
Seriously, Trump definitely carries it too far. But he has a point. Every piece of good news about his administration is always followed by “yes but....” by the liberal media. Polls show the public sees the bias against Trump and the GOP. Maybe it isn’t “fake news,” but it certainly is liberally biased news.
3
Maybe that’s because the Democrats are now the only sane thinkers we have left.
9
@DanielMarcMD I check fox news headlines everyday and compare them to the "liberal media" headlines. Fox leaves out key points and their slant is unremittingly trump-worship. A few call him out, but rarely. Fox Entertainment is not news. They are the problem.
5
More importantly, if there IS negative news about Trump or his policies, Fox News often chooses not to report it at all. A good example is evidence of North Korea's continued testing and missile program, barely mentioned on Fox, if mentioned at all. Which is worse, in your opinion?
5
It doesn't take 'a tree full of owls' to figure out if you want to continue lying to your constituents, you need to demonize the institution that consistently points out your constant lies. Trump is over 3,500 lies in 18 months and increasing daily. Last night for example "greatest tax cut" which is yet another lie.
Have we become a nation of sheeple, easily swayed by hucksters with no more facts than the papers at the supermarket checkout? What happened to a rational argument, common sense, and critical thinking? I'm afraid of the answer.
22
“Help me help President Trump drain the swamp.”
Help me help you to help yourselves to help corporate conglomerates help themselves to your children’s future. Helping helps to help those who help.
Help. Someone. Please send help.
10
The irony of Trump's news media bashing is that he reportedly consults all those online media sources himself, such as the Times, Washington Post, CNN and MSNBC to frame his various tweets. If those sources are as "horrendous" as he claims, why would he consult them at all? I'd think that his rally people would see exactly that.
6
The NYT has done a great job at exposing unamerican actions from the Trump administration. And doing so, protecting the American democracy.
This is journalism. And this is what drives Trump crazy. He hates the truth, he hates facts, and inevitably he hates journalists.
We must support good journalism like the NYT.
And fight the fringe that wants to get rid of it.
Attacking journalists the way Trump does proves his despotic tendencies.
Democrat or not, vote Democrats in the midterm elections.
19
What a disgrace this man is to the office of president. He lies and lies and lies and his 'supporters' eat it up and cheer. What he is doing to this country is beyond shameful.
15
They (media) should have all turned away and walked out... taking their cameras with them. Stop covering his stupid hate-fests.
14
There is a famous picture of a long line of cameras along a long walkway put down by press photographers as a protest against a French president who had attacked the press. They simply refused to take any more photos of the president.
3
"Mr. Trump claimed that the North had ceased nuclear testing …" Chocrane: "(Despite his assurances, the country has continued testing, ...)" I have been following news regularly, and I'm pretty sure of reading that North Korea continues test missiles, not "nucelar testing" which are not the same. Not that that should be condoned either, but the clever misdirection is disturbing. And, this has become a pattern among all journalists, in general. They can express their points of view in their articles, but I wish they make it easy on us and report in such a manner that I can trust them implicitly and not have to work constant be on guard against them, our hands are full as it is trying to figure out the politicians.
1
While I REJECT Trump's motivations for attacking the media, it is fair to say that the MEDIA ARE THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE BY FAILING TO REPORT THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CLIMATE CHANGE AND SEVERE WEATHER, SUCH AS CALIFORNIA FIRES.
There may be many reasons for this MEDIA FAIL, but part of it has to do with the adverse interests MEDIA BUSINESS INTERESTS have in reporting on topics that stir political opposition to pro-growth, pro-productivity, pro-consumerist policies marketed as "Third Way Capitalism."
3
@Louis Anthes - Take a look at the number of comments on Trump's atrocious behavior or on celebrity news and the number of comments on issues like climate, economics etc. The media is a business and they are following the money (ad revenue). We as readers need to demand better coverage and one of the ways we can do that is to put our eyeballs on the stories that really matter.
@Louis Anthes
Your point is well taken but keep your powder dry. You help the cause you are opposed to with all caps denigrating the free press. Climate change is a real and present danger but Trump is more present at the moment.
1
Some commentators are equating "liberal press" with an inaccurate press. I can watch Trump and what he says and does on live or taped coverage. I can form my own rational opinion of the man and his policies based on facts and personal observation. Not "liberal" facts, just plain reality style facts. From all I see, the liberal fake news press is far closer to truth and reality than Fox News or Ms. Sanders.
13
No news media need attend a political rally. trump is speaking at a campaign rally. He's not speaking to the American people, only those of his party. Please news media, for your sake and our country, you only need to report on news of importance for all Americans. Otherwise, you are giving trump free airtime at these campaign rallies.
18
Easy fix. Don’t cover any rallies or tweets.
Just let them rest where they are.
His words are most times lies and only relate to his base but the main stream media follows along.
Do not legitimize a pathological liar- whether he is the president or not.
DJT wants to get the word out, it should be in writing (again NOT Twitter) in order for the media to respond or act on it.
Otherwise let him take his hate show on the road while the literate adults can cover other regional and global news.
I do not know of any reason to follow any president every day. Unless it’s just for attention.
18
Think of it this way: Everything that Trump does is for himself and the Trump show, the highest rated daily show on TV. Confusion is what people are looking for. Like he says, a normal Presidency is boring and doesn't grab viewers. While he is stirring things up it allows underlings to reverse policies and make or repeal laws that will give the GOP what they want, and that is economic control. The US is now Trump's to play with, and everything has a profit motive.
12
Citizens of the USA would be well advised to watch NatGeo's TV series "Dictators' Rule Book" and in particular Episode 3 Benito Mussolini.
The situation you face now bears very close resemblance to the rise of Mussolini.
13
He's running scared. Probably his two biggest fears: Being disgraced by the upcoming Mueller report and losing his freedom by actually doing prison time. There's zero chance of the latter - but still it must be terrifying for him to contemplate.
And yet his supporters remain faithful. People don't change sides. We're in for a long strange trip.
12
The media need to cooperate on this one. A blackout of all things Trump for 24 hours would be a good start. As the saying goes, "No news is good news."
18
Covering these political rallies as newsworthy is completely absurd. They along with all of Trump's tweets should be ignored. Report on official White House and Administration policy, please. This macabre fascination with a liar and a con man is how he got elected in the first place. His every juvenile utterance and sickening hyperbole should not be given credence nor the pulpit.
43
" ... (Trump) interrupted a 10-minute recollection of his 2016 election night victory ... the president was at ease in front of an adoring crowd ... " Indeed, that seems to be the only reason he ever wanted to be a candidate, and not necessarily the POTUS. It allows him to bask in the adulation of his base, saying whatever they want to hear. "On Tuesday, the president effectively said black was white when he claimed without evidence that Russians would be helping Democrats ... " The latest in a long string of "without evidence". "Mr. Trump should worry that Americans will stop believing anything he says." (Wall Street Journal Editorial board, 3May2018) (The Wall Street Journal!)
11
President Trump did not spend the "majority" of his time at the Wilkes-Barre rally targeting the news media. Literally, in the first sentence, this article is promoting a lie. Perhaps if the author had used the term "plurality" as opposed to "majority," it might have passed the legitimacy test, but this characterization is a false claim. Also, President Trump has always made a distinction between the media or press in general and that of the "fake news," which is a reference to those mainstream media outlets that tend to be activists or advocates of a typically left-leaning ideology which intentionally skew objective fact in a self-serving way. This is done to the detriment of the readers and viewers of such outlets so that those consumers have a false representation of the facts and messages of any given event and thus have a less than ideal chance to make an accurate self-determination as to what is actually going on the world. This article is a fair example of that methodology.
3
@Jess A
Your English is very good!
I have never heard Trump make the distinction you describe. Yesterday, he did try to make that refinement in light of Ivanka's disavowal of the "fake news" moniker. But at the rallies, etc., no such distinctions are made.
It's time for TV and print news organizations to stop covering these Trump rant rallies.
It is not newsworthy anymore.
Perhaps in the beginning we needed to bear witness but now the creature is well known for what he is.
Your presence is bait for his bully pulpit, it provides the oxygen in the room.
13
Trump's divide and conquer strategy:
Tell each side of the divide what they want to hear and feed it to the Press. The Press obviously sees it as two opposing stories, which is impossible to cover as only one is the truth. So analyse what has been said and chose which is the truth and which is the lie. Since they both come from Trump or his administration you are obliged to call it like it is and point out to your audience which is the lie. This is when Trump chimes in by calling the reporting fake news cause the other thing he said was the truth and they are not covering it. Meanwhile his base knows the game and takes the story they like the best as the truth and the opposing side brands Trump as a liar, which fuels the divide, which is what he wanted in the first place. All of this reinforced by surrogates and state run propaganda machine, Fox News.
What this does is allow Trump to do just about anything as long it is accompanied with confusion, which the main stream must cover as their goal is to find the truth. It also assures coverage allowing Trump to control the news cycle.
How to combat this strategy: The Press needs to stop covering he said she said and focus on the objective and outcome of the strategy; i.e. the widening divide and the changes that are being made before our eyes that no one is addressing and how it will effect the long term.
4
I never heard of the term "fake news" before the 2016 election. "Fake news" is being generated by DJT and his Fauxnews state run media station. And Russian bots. And fringe groups like Q-Anon.
DJT may be getting opinion pieces and commenters opinions confused with real vetted news. Just because I write a comment that I disagree with policies, doesn't mean the NYT is "fake news". DJT thinks that anything or anyone that disagrees with him is not valid.
In other words, he does not believe in the 1st amendment.
8
Trump rallies offer nothing new. Seen one performance basically have seen them all. Why not just send a single press pool camera to record and feed to all of the news outlets.
Trump can then trumpet his "win" over the media.
10
"A little man needs a big man" so said Sherlock Holmes. And Trump is the big man with the loud voice banging the drum whipping up hysteria for all the little people who feel empowered banging their tiny drums behind him. Been used by dictators for centuries.
3
It would be too glib to say that nothing Trump says matters (because half the time he doesn't even know what he's saying, and the other half he's just trying to change the subject or foment more anger and fear among followers of this toxic personality cult). But his base is clearly feeling unleashed, and he continues to feed into their feelings of revenge against a system they perceive has let them down.
As for actually performing the duties of the office, the only thing Trump seems to have committed to memory is his own twisted narrative of the 2016 election night, relived, presumably at taxpayer expense, every time his fragile ego is in need of inflation.
10
Folks, we are being trolled by Trump. Every day he releases a series of outrageous tweets or statements calculated to pull our chains. This sets the agenda for an entire day of our chattering at home, at work and on CNN and MSNBC. The following morning the process starts all over again. He, alone, controls the conversation now. And we, like Pavlov's dogs, fall into his trap each day.
12
The longer Trump enablement continues, the nastier will be the surprise when the "lay low" order comes off all those "Federalist Society" judicial appointees McConnell has sneaked into federal judiciary under cover of Trump's smokescreen.
7
Isn't it somehow strange that Trump rallies all the time?
Former presidents only rallied during their campains before the election and stopped it thereafter
12
If he were a real President he's be way too busy with his job to have rallies in the middle of his term. But wait ... maybe we don't want him doing his job. The less he does, the less chance he has to muck up the business of government.
1
We've never had a President in the history of this country that lies virtually every time he opens his mouth and who continually Gaslights America.
When I watch this Trump's disgraceful performances as a two bit comic like the one in Pennsylvnia last night, I'm almost at a loss for words on the bizarre behavior, no in their right mind behaves like that, let alone someone who is supposed to be a President.
I listen to him and what comes to mind are, illiterate, ignorant, clownish, third grade, childish, embarrassment, but in no way anything remotely close to leadership or integrity.
There is no way that Donald Trump is the same man that was interviewed on television many times in the 80's or 90's it the mentally same man today, Trump is clearly not right in the mind and something needs to be done for the sake of the country.
9
Looks like the US President is looking at rescinding the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
3
At 74 it doesn't feel all that great to see 72 being depicted as some sort of negative when speaking about Trump.
Commenters and columnist often use pernicious stereotypes (age being right there near the top) as a way to fight against genuinely hateful figures. In a way this mirrors the struggle going on between an often compliant timid corporate media and a proto-fascist administration. One reinforces much of what is wrong with the society and the other brings the horror of it into ever new realms of viciousness.
4
It can not be overstated that the greatest volume of false, contradictory, and deceptive information the American People has had to endure for the last two years has come directly from the mouth of the president. Add his private meetings with Putin and Kim, which were declared a "great success" without any substantiation, it becomes clear that the president does not want the truth to be known.
14
No, Mr. Trump, YOU are the horrendous person. You seem. as a man of age, to resent those who will be here once you've gone. Why leave anything safe and glorious once you're not here to enjoy it?
You are your universe. You are the center of gravity, you are
the one who must be listened to, even when what you say is as vacant -- and dangerous -- as the worst among us.
But that's your point, isn't it? Make every year that remains
for you a pay day. Leave the rest of us to clean up your mess.
Really: what do you care?
11
Desperado. How are your accountants and tax preparers, Mr. President? And I’m just wondering, do you have any offshore accounts? Did you put them in the name of your children; adult and minor; your wife(s). Are they on the boards? Scream all you want, November is coming.
13
Trump acts like he is an entertainer from a WWE event. Maybe the McMahons are choreographing these rallies.
3
Failure. Trump wants a physical wall when our enemies are invading and attacking over the Internet. He's a generation too old. He's fighting the last war. Bank robbers don't use guns anymore they use algorithms. Republican failure.
9
Some days, I think that my head is going to explode. What has happened to people's ability to analyze? Are folks truly happy with a president who changes his view every five minutes, who insults anyone who dares to disagree with him, who cannot (will not) work with Congress, who threatens and bullies and does not believe in a free press? Why on earth do people attend these ridiculous and dangerous rallies? They learn nothing, so I have to assume it is because they hope to see some sort of violence. It is all very chilling and depressing.
26
@Marilyn It is sheer gall to expect rational people to respond favorably to being forced to deal with Trump.
3
While videos of Trump supporters at his rallies cheering his inflammatory language and cursing the media are extremely disturbing, Democrats would be making a dangerous political mistake in assuming that Trump's supporters consist primarily of so-called "deplorables" (and conservative Top One Percenters). I have spoken with many "normal" people who are Trump supporters, some of whom live less than 20 miles from the NYTimes headquarters, who would not be considered "deplorable" by any objective yardstick and who nevertheless support Trump because of his "fresh" approach to politics - "fresh" meaning new and different as well as cheeky. Like Democrats who ignored Bill Clinton's infidelities, these Trump supporters simply disregard his many personality and other flaws. If Democrats do not figure out a way to attract these Trump supporters (or have them outvoted) Trump will be re-elected.
9
"...these Trump supporters simply disregard his many personality and other flaws."
The catastrophic mistake these nominally "normal" people are making is in their inability to imagine the end result of Trump's "flaws".
They focus on the fact that "today", they might have a few more dollars in their pocket and that the employment statistics ticked up a notch.
And are unable to see that these so called "flaws" are not COGV flaws, but simply the expression of a mechanism capable of actions so sinister that the average individual's "baseline" of interpretation are not calibrated to interpret them for what they are.
2
@Jay Orchard I agree and disagree. The Democrats are caught in a trap, form a resistance or move further to the Left, both of which gets coverage and backlash, or find a topic to rally around, there are too many topics to rally around already and each one has it's negatives. Or, as I suggest, leave it to the press to figure it out. They are the ones that cover what is happening and have the means to investigate what it all means.
1
"They are the ones that cover what is happening and have the means to investigate what it all means."
We have more than enough evidence right now to grasp "what it all means".
Most of us are just unwilling or unable to come to terms with it, it's either too frightening or too unbelievable.
George Orwell wrote, in 1984,
"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command."
And now Trump says "What you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening."
But... it is happening. It actually is.
31
@courtney eudaly, The infusion of dyslexic judges to the federal judiciary is largely under the radar.
1
He is playing the media for suckers at taxpayer expense, lining journalists up in a row and encouraging his followers to jeer at them and distracting the public from real news. Stop covering these infomercials. Send a pool reporter in the unlikely event something newsworthy occurs.
17
@Seattle native
100% agreed
2
If Trump has drained the swamp as promised he has replaced it with a cesspool. Filled with his outrageous lies and vulgar insults. His vilification of the working journalists is neither funny nor amusing, He is firing up his supporters and putting courageous reporters in harms way. Domestic journalists are being exposed to war zone risks. The Donald is not fit to hold high office. It is time to drain the Donald.
12
"The enemy of the people" was Joseph Stalin's line... Even
Kruschev denounced it as destructive of the people. Our self styled strong man head of state has adopted Stalin's own
slogan. How appropriate..How revolting.
30
Why doesn't the press simply boycott the Trump rallies? Their reporting the Trump statements is only spreading his lies.
28
I look at the faces of the people at these hate rallies and I feel sorry for them. I do. They don't have a clue that they have been snookered by the biggest con man known.
When he falls, when he's impeached in public embarrassment - more than that of pathetic payoffs to porn stars and other affairs - I believe many of these supporters will feel duped and embarrassed for themselves. I just hope our country survives until then.
17
I am a ex New Yorker, and when I see a Three card Monty con job shyster, I know it, Trump thrives on publicity, as he was created by the media, the best thing to do, is just leave the buffoon alone, and I assure you pretty soon, he will choke on his own vomit, this president specialty is to appeal to the trash, and he knows their language, stop covering this buffoon and report on the democrats and intelligent people. Our future and the future of our children are at stake, our rising budget deficit is a time bomb, and in the end Trump (so called king of debt), will do what he has always done, declare bankruptcy and stick this nation with the devastating bill for generations to comes, Cover that not this moron.
27
@Insane Easier said than done. If the main stream media does not cover the story, Fox will. But they will cover it in a light that makes your suffering and anxiety look like something we all want and need. Then to get this news on how this President is changing our lives we will flock to Fox. Not good!
As for the deficit time bomb, when it is ready to explode and bring us all down, the only solution that will save the economy (which we love right now) is to get out of the business of entitlement programs and turn them over to the private sector, a long term GOP objective.
It is this that the media needs to cover, not the "Horrendous People" statements, which are meant to excite the crowds of followers and his TV audience on both sides of the aisle.
2
It is just a matter of time before Trump incites violence against the Press. Then what??
37
It has already happened with a Washington newspaper.
4
@DSS then outrage, followed by the next trump scandal and repeat. all the while america burns.
2
If we want the media to stop covering these rallies, we must stop clicking on these stories and reading them. Going forward, I intend to do just that. I hope you will join me.
10
@Run Wild I would agree with you except when someone says they are going to take steps to destroy my future, I want to know what he is saying. The zinger in all this is that he knows it and counts on it.
2
Trump uses the news to voice his displeasure with the news and to further his agenda. I think the man protests against the news a bit too much. After all, how else can he get out his despicable messages about immigration, religion, and whatever else it is that he is pushing? We aren't born with telepathic abilities so he's stuck with using the media and its various platforms to get the word out.
However, I think there's one word he doesn't understand at all: compassion and all that goes with it. Or perhaps it's humanity. Some day, soon this reader hopes, the media will reveal Trump for what he is: a con artist, a liar, and a criminal.
10
Who ARE these people? I am trying not to despair for our country, but wow.
21
Why are these rallies being covered? As the article illustrates, Trump spent the majority of his time talking about HIMSELF. He barely talked about the candidate he was supposed to be helping.
These rallies are a ego stroking for Trump. That’s it.
The networks should quit covering them. The only people watching are Fox News zombies!
16
This man has no self-respect.
4
Only authoritarian dictators twist their agendas and condemn a free press. I just hope and pray that MSM outlets such as CNN etc. continue to push for the whole, real truth. Not the gas lighting, lies, and obfuscating that only happens when democracy dies. Trump is and always has only cared about the bottom line--which is --getting away with as much as he can, while lining his and his family's pockets. I know and he knows--the truth will be revealed, he will be "locked up" and all will be right in the world again. Amen.
6
The Democrats really need to make this attack on the first amendment into a campaign issue. Every GOP candidate should be forced to unequivocally state that Trump's statements are unAmerican. If they refuse, then they are complicit with his attack on our basic freedoms.
9
The Times described Trump's appearance at Wilkes-Barres Pa. as a "rowdy rally" Every rally for Trump is rowdy!
2
These "rallies" Trump holds don't seem to be in support of regional candidates so much as early campaign rallies for himself, in which he extolls his "triumphs" and "virtues", continues his narrative on how "fake" the media is (obviously setting up his base for what many believe will be his eventual comeuppance), and generally attacking anyone he believes has attacked him. Oh, and here's the candidate - what's his name.
There oughta be a law...
9
This guy is truly unhinged. He was known to be unsuitable for the job before he was "elected" and his incompetence should be clear to everyone by now. Except the lunatic fringe which seems to be inhabiting more and more of his "rallies", e.g. self-adoration events. How can you tell? Count the number of tinfoil hats in the crowd.
Impeach this clown now.
10
Trump getting up there and telling a crowd of middle-aged and elderly folks with a smattering of kids holding signs that he is drawing "bigger crowds than Beyonce, Jay Z, or Bruce Springsteen" is so humiliatingly ridiculous that you have to wonder what drugs the old boy is on.
The earnest tent revival in a small town atmosphere, the stale Jimmy Swaggart stuff, the stifling requirement to be mindless is pitiful and childish. Directing hate at others, gloating= pathetic.
6
I agree with those who argue that the press should stop covering his rallies, because if you do, he's lost his primary act! He always says look back there , fake news, they are horrendous people and it incites the crowd! If you weren't there, what's he going to say? Look at Fox news my wonderful pals, who repeat as fact all my lies!!! If you notice his endless talk about winning the election, does not get the same response from the crowd.
I don't care if it increases viewership and revenues, the Republic is at stake!
7
Charlatan Trump, as usual, taking advantage of a rally to support a candidate, sent himself high praise for his stupidity...which seems Trump's strength, disregarding the truth and evidence right off, and repeating tiring self-congratulations to satisfy his ego. This cultist 'base' seems oblivious to Trump's permanent lying, and insulting, and half truths to confuse any and all issues against his outrageous misstatements. Soon enough, the Barlettas of this world will realize that coming too close to Trump may be toxic, and a ticket to go home.
3
So I'm now wondering which is more dangerous for a reporter - covering the war in Syria, or covering a Trump rally?
24
What the fools in this administration don't realize is that they've now set precedent on how future administrations can treat the press and public at large. Not saying that future presidents will allow their staffs to behave like spoiled 2nd graders, just saying the die has been cast.
Just look at SHS. Every time I see her during the (ever so infrequent) press briefings, she looks like she's reading catalogs she got in yesterday's mail while a reporting asks a question. Then she'll look up like someone just mentioned that a new Trader Joe's opened up in the neighborhood.
Pathetic.
6
@WeeJay It may seem too ridiculous to be possible, but evangelical religion has convinced many that putting the highly unlikely over on the gullible is a fast track to Heaven, just as suicide bombing is to Muslim extremists.
3
Since Trump pays hush money can I pay to shut him up already?
16
The only fake news is trump himself. The news medium should stop covering this rallies that trump needs to boost his sick need to feel right on everything. Just get the feed from fox news, because one day at some of this evil man's rallies someone is going to get killed.
12
Watching Trump's performance at these rallies is frightening. When the cameras scan his audience, their reaction to his performance is even scarier.
12
On the contrary....he has made every thing bad. He has taken the values and principles, including the basic value of honesty that this nation has fought and many have died for and thrown them aside to protect himself and his own personal agenda.
With out question or fear of contradiction, one can say surely his ranting and raving qualify as"horrendous" and is that of an enemy of the people and this nation. He is responsible for the disgusting news, not the news media. It is a product of who and what he is, a fake.
5
Media people: Please stop sending reporters to these rallies, and PLEASE stop broadcasting them live! In fact, don't report on them at all, because Trump is using you to be outrageous; every rally is worse than the one before.
BUT - we need video evidence of what Trump says and what the crowd does, so offer hazard pay to camera people so there's proof that can be offered for evidence. Just don't put anyone in the media corral.
Reporters are going to get hurt - just look at the rabid crowds.
15
If you make misinformative statements often enough, some people start to believe it as gospel truth.
What will eventually happen is the mob at one of these rallies will attack and either injure or kill a journalist. It's inevitable.
Then Sean Hannity will get on his soapbox and blame the 'fake liberal news outlets' for this tragedy.
11
Readers (and viewers) love and are comforted to see and hear stories than confirm and validate their own beliefs. The public picks choices of media accordingly. Why do you think you read the NY Times?
Yet, there is a quality of art known as "destructiveness " because it confronts, disrupts and destroys preconceptions and opens one up to new ways of seeing and thinking.
Thus, murmur a bit sadly, that reporting is most often a profession, not an art form.
1
Stop covering these rallies. This is not news. It's a given and just feeds his ego.
14
We should separate the credible media from entertainment news. I am not a Trump supporter but I agree with the premise that TV media like CNN and MSNBC alike are sensationalists, biased and self serving. The anchors are celebrities who need to entertain their audience for ratings to sell commercials so they will push the envelop. They also often become the news rather than reporting the news. This is not journalism! Print media is a much more reliable source although their reporting is also biased at times. Trump is exploiting the media’s biased and lack of journalistic integrity as a weakness to drive his own agenda to rally his base. May be the media should wake up and not play into his hands and start acting like true journalist and not entertainers! They can take a page from the BBC news.
3
MSNBC long ago determined that there needed to be a clear source of information that appealed to the center-left. This demographic
obviously wasn't being served by Fox News. CNN is probably more middle-road, but also provides an antidote to the Fox News stream. If you don't like the point of view reflected on these networks, don't watch them. Just like I and others refuse to watch Fox.
CNN deserves this. They broadcasted hate throughout the campaign, all for the sake of ratings and ultimately the bottom line. They provided a platform for hate cyborgs like Kellyanne Conway and Cory Lewandowski to spew their poison to the people. CNN pretends to be on a mission to inform the people, but it is really about ratings and profit. They will tell us they are just informing the public of alternate viewpoints, but in doing so they have normalized racism and hate. Should we ask David Duke his opinion on everything? Media shapes society and CNN has a moral obligation to use its power ethically. CNN is responsible for the election of Donald Trump. CNN is the enemy of the people.
This is how trump defines being a world leader. This is how he inspires a nation. Sad.
14
Need proof that Robert Mueller is getting closer to indicting Trump......look at the increasing fear and anger in Trump and his gang of co-conspirators. This unhinged behavior is only going to get worse from here.
Q-anon and other conspiracy hoaxes and more violence and craziness is actually a good sign. It means that we're coming to end soon. And the end will be the removal and prosecution of our president and many in his administration for conspiracy against our country. This is an extremely serious matter.
After Trump and his administration are removed and sent to prison we will have to join together as a country to heal and also to punish Putin for his part in all of this.
268
@SteveFromBoston Appreciate you holding this vision, and hope it is true.
6
@SteveFromBoston - I concur and find your comment, especially your closing paragraph inspiring. My only question is if Trump is removed from office, does that mean the country gets stuck with Pence? He ain't no prize either. Just thinking out loud.
4
@SteveFromBoston-I sure wish I had your optimism. My fear is that none of them will ever be held responsible for their crimes or their destruction of the country. I will be very pleasantly surprised if donald trump ever sees the inside of a courtroom much less a prison cell. Boy, I hope you're right and I am oh so wrong.
Maybe we all need to start wearing Faux News is fake news TShirts!
7
"NYT Devotes Majority of Front Page to Bashing Trump."
Funny, it sounds much more fitting this way. Only difference is it holds every day of the week.
3
I agree. Not because I like him, I don't. I just don't see what the rally is that merits the space devoted to it.
3
@Josh - The NYT is just reporting what Trump does and says. If that news is negative blame Trump.
3
If Trump wants positive coverage, he should stop doing mean, awful things. It's really hard to put a positive spin on a guy who disparages minorities as murderers and rapists, the EU as a foe, who says that white supremacists are good people who have a point, who takes children away from their parents at the border with no plan for tracking them or unifying them, who goes into a closed room with our leading adversary with no other members of the US government present, who wants to make the air and water less clean, who has not delivered on the wall he so cherishes as Mexico doesn't seem to agree with its funding, who threatens N Korea with annihilation through twitter, who broke an agreement with Iran that had been working. That's just what comes to mind. I am open and ready for something, anything good - but every day this wannabe despot sets the bar lower, does something heinous, and he's the one who is indignant? Puuuleeaze...
22
We cannot convert the Trumpists, they are unable to see that he has sold them a bunch of garbage. If America wants to stay America, congress must grow a spine, and Trump must not be re-elected.
19
I agree with Trump. He's the World's Biggest Victim! In fact, he's a Loser! Sad!
5
The Trump mind bending machine is changing simple math and basic logic. The word “fake” now means: anything that is contrary to what Trump says or does, no matter how objective or reasonable. At the very worst, media outlets may at times provide opinions, liberal or conservative. How is that “fake”?
6
Trump doesn't do any work. He pretended to be a candidate in 2016, but never talked about policy. He spent his time gallivanting around doing his big bully act. Many didn't notice that for an inexperienced novice politician, Trump not proposing any reasonable plans was a warning he wasn't equipped to be president. Trump was performing being president but did nothing to indicate he was up to the job. Trump just wanted to play at being president.
His presidency has turned out to be the same thing. He doesn't work, refuses his daily briefings, spends his time watching hours of tv, tweeting, talking on the phone,
going to rallies, golfing & flying around the world to get media attention.
Trump's not about anything but getting attention. He's president in name only, performing being a strong man 'president,' bullying people & fighting, constantly proclaiming how tough he is.
This is a complete disaster. We're trapped in Trump's really tv show "President Donald Trump." It doesn't occur to him he needs do productive things for the country. Meeting Kim Jong Un was just a staged media with no concrete results.
The rest of Trump's presidency will probably be just this: rallies, tweeting, golfing, watching tv.
Except for picking fights, Trump lives much like any wealthy retired 70 yr old.
But he was elected to do a very demanding job. So far, he has no intention of doing the job. His contempt for responsibility is shocking.
Donald Trump - FAKE PRESIDENT.
41
How can people be so gullible? The proof is right there, in the video, audio, and written transcripts. Trump has been proven repeatedly to be a liar; he's an enemy of the middle class, and a traitor to America.
This has become too Jim Jones/Peoples Temple cult/Guyana-ish for comfort. Trump's follower's have gleefully swallowed the Koolaid and are cheering their own demise. Sad!
VOTE!
13
Perhaps the strategy behind calling fake is that, when definitive evidence and thus news finally comes out regarding his collusion, illegal business practices or you name it, his base will be fully programmed to brush it off. Maybe they will take to the streets when there is an attempt to impeach or maybe even imprison, saying the (fake) charges are "trumped up" (excuse the pun).
2
To ALL MSM:
Stop covering these rallies. Just STOP.
17
Is Donald Trump guilty of inciting violence? If a journalist is attacked at one of his rallies, Trump will have to shoulder some, if not all, of the blame. His behavior is outrageous as is the behavior of Trump supporters who heed his words and taunt our journalists. Shameful and sickening.
12
Just a few days after NYT's Sulzberger begged Trump to back off the news media, Trump doubles down on his attacks and has his press secretary join in on the attack.
The focus should not be on Trump or Huckabee, but on the incredible naivety of Sulzberger and others who do not understand the essence and power of Donald Trump. Bigotry, hatred, personal attacks, and buying people are his life blood. If he gave them up there would be no corpse.
5
Congrats, he has successfully deflected out attention from Helsinki. God, we're predictable.
7
In the world of Trump supporters there appears to be an inability to separate news from opinion. All of us, including published columnists, are entitled to opinions. News consists of newly received or noteworthy information. When the President lumps everything together as “fake news” it diminishes facts and facts should carry weight. I fear for all of us in this country when a significant group of citizens are unable to discern the difference.
6
We already know his talking points. Why even cover his tantrums?
Send one AP reporter to the rally, cite the date, time, crowd size, and any new policy direction, then forget the rest.
I am sick of rehashing the same Trumpian gripes about how the poor little man is so mistreated.
22
Gleefully booing, laughing and jeering, the people who show up for his rallies know nothing about democracy and have probably never had a civics lesson. In their blissful ignorance, they are amused by his ruinous language and could care less about its ramifications.
12
And why is the media covering these rallies? Do not feed the monster!
30
I agree - he seems to manage the headlines with his FAKE news, FAKE speeches, FAKE 'facts', FAKE EVERYTHING on a daily basis. He wants/needs Media coverage (good or bad) - and he gets it with his lies and deceit.
5
@Barbara Quinn
The media’s incessant coverage of Trump from the beginning have played a huge part in his rise to power.
It’s unsettling to recall msnbc with an empty Trump podium for an hour before he would appear.
Ratings = $$$$, and that equals Trump coverage.
There are repercussions for mindlessly chasing dollars.
3
I wonder if he’ll still think it’s “fake news” when the media begins reporting on the impeachment hearings.
11
This makes me recall a young Russian I met not too long ago, a volunteer visiting Toronto, when I casually brought up something in the news to make conversation, he dismissed it right away, saying he never reads or follows the news because you can't trust any of them. He was so blase about it. To him, it was a fact, not an accusation. Yes, these people are having "fun" in this atmosphere and many are nice when the cameras are turned off, but how long before the conversion / brainwashing is complete? When the masses really start to believe it?
9
@Jessica Mendes The Russian for "news" is "izvestia, and "pravda" means "truth". So everybody says there is no izvestia in Izvestia, and no pravda in Pravda.
2
Trump is moving closer every day to his final act, a nervous breakdown. It is his only answer to the squeeze he is feeling by Mueller and the truth that is emerging.
9
Suppose that, instead of breathless coverage about how unfairly it is being treated, the media just stopped showing up at these rallies? Or alternatively, reported on everything BUT what Traitor Trump says about it? Is there really ever anything seriously newsworthy about these demolition derbies? Seems to me that his lumpen merely show up to hear the greatest hits, and maybe become part of the story, like when grandstander Jim Acosta makes their dreams come true and puts them on TV. It's like an episode of Jerry Springer, the deplorables are SO happy to perform for the cameras. Why not deprive them of oxygen? Ah, but then the media would have to stop reporting on itself, and that seems improbable.
11
The "fake media" should just stop reporting on his rallies. No TV, no print, no notice, no nothing. Can you see him maniacally flipping through channels, hunting the pages of the Times, demanding to see more clips, yelling at Sanders, "Where's my story? They can't do this to me!" Trump is a creature of the media he derogates. He's desperate for page one treatment of his blatherings by the Times. Starve the Beast!
26
The Trump presidency is not going to end well for him , and I fear even worse for the country and the world. The US has been damaged at home and on the world stage; the glorified trajectory of our "manifest destiny" is in serous doubt - Helsinki was a tipping point - and it is unclear if we will be able to reclaim it. And the cowardice of the Republican Party leaves one speechless, and afraid.
11
Taxpayers should not be funding these absurd political rallies.
12
This is a dangerous and unstable man in action. There has already been a newsroom shooting, seems he wants more. My stomach is in knots nearly every day, might have to take a break from the news. Although I participate when and where I can; protesting, contributing to the aclu etc the overload of news about this megalomaniac is damaging to the psyche.
6
He’s playing with matches again. It’s a matter of time before something ignites. I sure pray it doesn’t and someone pulls him by the ear. Kelly, Mueller, Congress, Hannity, anybody, please.
6
Something which has been overlooked in the debate about fake news v. real news is the merging of the print media and televison. Saw Mr. CONFESSORE on MSNBC, a respected Times newspaper journo clapping along with other members of a panel for Andrea Mitchell for her 40 years in the news business. Likewise, Maggie Haberman, another print journo and respected writer appearing regularly on CNN, so 1 is left to wonder whether both cases pose a conflict of interest, and how either's writing can be approached with credulity if they, among others, r serving two EMPLOYERS: respective cable news networks and the Times newspaper. Why should 1 believe what either has to say or write, and could their actions be fairly characterized as sell outs?
Hey, anything that keeps Trump's mind off the results of the official Mueller investigation works for him. His cloak of distraction, donned every day when he sits down to tweet, has many deep pockets. Myself, I wish he would put on the cloak of invisibility and simply disappear.
He is such a greedy man baby for attention. I hope his 'reign' awakens all Americans to the fact that we need to have presidential elects take a full mental health evaluation in addition to a physical. This same evaluation should take place every six months they hold office.
There are 325M Americans the president needs to take care of plus his actions impact the entire world. We have a 73 year old man who came into office with a serious psychological disorder called Narcissism, and we have watched his brain deteriorate due to senile dementia.
He has the attention span of a gnat and cannot read and comprehend. His cognitive skills as far as recognizing Putin, a cheeseburger, and his Twitter account have not been impaired however, and unfortunately.
6
this is unacceptable. it is chillingly telling that this administration primps the second amendment and attacks the first. a free press is fundamental to democracy.
5
There is a tweet from a newsman pointing out that as soon as the camera stop rolling many/most of the screaming fans of trump were asking the newsman they were just berating for autographs and photos with him and he commented that it was like the crowd at a WWW match. I think he is right; trump's followers think this is just a Monster Rally or a Wrestling match. For so many of them, just another reality TV show. These people are 'seven types of fools' and they are helping to wreak our country.
9
I’m becoming more and more suspicious of the motives some of these people have for attending these rallies in the first place. Maybe they aren’t blatantly being paid to be there, but I wonder if their presence is solicited in other ways. And if it wasn’t, would they have showed up anyway? Watching them at times feels like watching extras on a film set after somebody yells “action”.
6
This is straight from Chapter One of "How to Become a Dictator"---attack, discredit and, if possible, shut down the free press. Once the press is out of the way, you can lie with impunity.
11
Abuse of the free media is one of the first strides into totalitarianism.
This is not just Trump. We are ALL complicit in allowing Trump to abuse and slander the free media. The GOP is standing idly by, and Democrats are squabbling, faction vs faction. Both sides are guilty of enabling Trump: every news cycle is two thirds Trump's outrage and one third Democratic disarray. We will never be able to get Trump and his ilk out of office until we clean our own house first.
It's high time Democrats speak out and fight back - in unison - to restore our democracy. Stop allowing Trump to divide and conquer. Stop pitting young against old, centrist against progressive. Recognize our strength lies in our differences. Party infighting only does Trump's work for him.
Primaries are over. Unify and fight together to restore and rebuild. VOTE DEMOCRATIC.
10
Trump continues to constantly put news sources like the NYT and CNN in no-win scenarios. He criticizes them for presenting “fake, fake disgusting news” yet if they chose to not cover and/or report his antics and ramblings, he would find fault with that too. In the end, he seems to love the limelight, attention and being the victim more than he loves this country and doing right by it.
Therefore, all I can add is a hearty, heartfelt and sincere thank you to the New York Times for covering this incredulous human being. This newspaper’s vast and in depth coverage illuminates millions of minds throughout the world every day. I am grateful to every person associated with the NYT for bringing me information about what's going on here and abroad. You are a necessity in my daily routine.
254
@Marge Keller
Well said. I agree completely
2
Trump doesn't love this country at all, nor any other. He has some interest in his children because they are his bloodline, but I wouldn't call it love. He is an extremely abnormal person exercising power he should never have been given.
1
@Marge Keller
Wow!! Well said. My thoughts exactly.
2
Thomas Jefferson: "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."
156
Lou,
This is one of Jefferson's greatest quotes.
The Times snd other news organizations should start a campaign around this quote.
1
The gist of Trump's feelings towards liberal media are correct.
Many publications, in particular the Times, put the worst possible spin on whatever Mr. Trump does. If he tries to improve relations with North Korea or Russia, the focus is almost exclusively on the negative, when in fact there is much to be said for trying to get along with our enemies, regardless of what we may think about their foreign and domestic policies. Russia is the strongest nuclear power in the world other than the US, and opening communications channels with their leadership may help prevent a nuclear war.
Our own economy is doing well under Trump.
I can't tell from the information revealed to the public whether Russia tried to influence our election. If they did, we should stop it. But let’s get real: the major thing Russia is accused of is spreading information, most of it truthful. Our CIA has something similar to our own enemies for decades. And, it's not all that different from what the New York Times considers its primary mission, including in many foreign countries. If you want to discuss trying to influence elections, have a glance at the Times' coverage and editorials during the run-up to the last election.
The liberal press needs to judge Mr. Trump's policies on their merits, and keep the overwrought negative bias confined to the opinion pages. The liberal press has substantially undermined its credibility with many of us.
12
@Alex While I tend to disagree with most of your points, they're not without merit.
However, this:
"I can't tell from the information revealed to the public whether Russia tried to influence our election."
is either incredibly obtuse or simply disingenuous.
1
@Alex Trump last night congratulated himself on North Korea, yet just today, Pompeo told a Senate committee hearing that North Korea was continuing to produce fuel for nuclear bombs in spite of its pledge.
So where is the fake news in that? How is that a liberal leaning press when his own Secretary of State says there no progress. Yet Trumps tells his crowds that North Korea is a success.
How is that for merits?
1
@Alex "the major thing Russia is accused of is spreading information, most of it truthful. "
Not the memes spread through Facebook, e.g., the ones about President Obama giving the Iranians a palette of our cash, or Hillary Clinton being against people with AIDs after attending Nancy Reagan's funeral.
Yeah, let's get real. We had a Cold War, and the Russians were the enemy. They lost, they're mad, and they're still the enemy. What our CIA does and what the NY Times does in their open work as journalists are a total false equivalence.
FYI: While you have been distracted by Trump's Nuremberg-style rallies, China has been building railroads, ports, and a space station in South America, furthering weakening the United States with our closest allies in the Western Hemisphere.
The naivete in your comment suggest that you and yours are very naive about how pernicious this administration has been to the future of America. Friendship with Russia, inattention to details in diplomacy, and polluting the environment are not good things.
1
Keep up the great work Trump. 3.9% unemployment whens the last time we saw that? Millions less on food stamps. 4.1% GDP growth. Keep it up. The vast majority of Americans see the facts and look past the bias.
15
The do-nothing president cannot take credit for all of this. It's still Obama's policies that are responsible for economy's health. Unfortunately, the stupid decisions Trump took (widening déficits, trade wars) will break this virtuous circle soon enough. He will accuse others (Democrats ?) for those terrible effects just like he takes credits for other's success right now.
Obama is undoubtedly the best president in the history of this country and history will judge Trump and his followers badly. Just like Joseph McCarthy. It took 4 years to bring that fascist down, remember that.
1
@Corey
We'll see what the "vast majority of Americans" thinks in November.
p.s. Trump only has to get to 5.2% to match Obama's best (2014) numbers. With his moronic trade policies, massive budget deficits (far, far worse than predicted), and horrendous regulatory behavior he'll be quite lucky if this quarter isn't the very best of his presidency.
1
I do love the economy President Obama put in place. They are nice coat tails to ride on.
1
There is a really, really simple solution to this horrific issue:
DON'T COVER HIM. Stop airing his nonsense. Don't give Trump a platform! You will gain, not lose, viewership or readership over it.
Giving attention to the insolent, petulant child is never a good idea.
And what's the downside? Certainly not missing a big story based in fact. Instead, you would no longer the conduit to lies, insults and intentional hate-filled discord. Good for you and for all of us.
The media needs to exercise its might by not giving Trump air time. Our national security depends on it.
210
@Sarah Right on, my sentiments exactly.
@Sarah Thank you for your great recommendation. Would love to see major news outlets simply refer to President Trump as just the President. Get his name and that of his wife and his family out of the press. Well, maybe not Melania's. Feel a little sorry for her.
Does the NYT, Washington Post and CNN have the courage to heed your recommendation? Time will tell.
@Sarah I've thought this, too. However, just because Trump tramples over the norms of behavior and mores doesn't mean everyone else should also.
It's galling, but now there's more of a need than ever that our institutions and leaders follow protocol and customary good manners.
The media has always covered the president and government, and the Times is correct in doing so. Let Trump abuse the office of the presidency and ignore societal norms and expectations. The rest of us don't need to go down that slippery slope.
If he thinks the media is so awful, give him what he wants and take him (his name) out of the media. Stop showing pictures of him in news stories. Print stories about him and the administration, but stop using his name. Instead, use 'the President' and 'the Administration'.
On the other hand, he increasingly exposes himself as a mad man, and hopefully more and more Americans come to understand how dangerous he is.
Please vote for Democratic candidates, it's the only way to rein him in since congress refuses to do anything.
321
@Run Wild ahh but that won't work, clever "Run Wild". See the worst that could happen for the failing liberal establishment is to ignore him, because they CAN'T. They tried back in 2015 and the facts spoke for themselves. Their only hope of diminishing his success was to proactively get in the way of reality by reprocessing what happens with their own twist before delivering it to their edgy readership. See this entire article for example.
1
@Josh
Maybe we ignored him in 2015 because we didn't think such a failed human being could ever be elected President in this country. We are not reprocessing anything, he lays it all out there for everyone to see and hear.
And WHO is paying for all of these rallies???
40
@YogaGal
Um...we are, despite laws and rules against using tax money to finance campaign events, which is what these Trump rallies seem to be.
So, the President* is picking our pockets, once again.
7
@YogaGal Trump is the most maintenance-needy president in US history by a country mile.
7
You can't blame idiots for being idiots, but you CAN blame GOP members of congress for allowing this to continue.
57
Hey NYT - Please stop covering these rallies. Stop giving out free advertising for his re-election campaign. Stop giving him and his cult followers attention. Stop rewarding bad behavior. Just stop.
37
Those people make me sick.
29
Speaking of Fake, where is Trump's "Better, cheaper healthcare, Day One"??
Where is the "End of crime, Day One"? "The Wall" paid by Mexico?? These folks are delusional followers, not examples of American citizens charged with the actual duties of being citizens.
Sanders on her hind legs yapping at the press was her own sad performance art- a self-pitying dodge to an important question. History will not be kind to this.
Lie all you want. The majority of the American people see through this and reject it.
38
To those of us railing against "MSM" or the liberal press, complaining about a lack of positive Trump stories: Would you have journalists drop their critical nature in order to offer presidential praise? I wouldn't.
Trump would. Of course he would prefer praise.
But the president doesn't need a cheer-leading press. It would spit in the face of the service journalism offers the public. News journalism. Investigative journalism.
The people need truth, especially concealed or non-apparent truth. Truth which is unflattering, unfortunate for powerful folks. This comes through critical, investigative journalism. You don't get cheer leading from real journalism.
Too many of us have conflated the critical nature of journalism with political bias. That was no accident. The president publicly promotes this conflation loudly and often. We've all seen it. He goes past conflation and flat out attacks.
Ask yourself, who is best served when the people see the truth-seekers as "enemies of the people?" Not the people, surely.
6
@Brandon Michael Frye Bias is as inherent to humans as it is to electronics. I am extremely biased against people who believe that accusing others of bias makes them look objective.
2
@Brandon Michael Frye
I would agree, had not the MSM fawned in such a servile manner to President Obama for eight years.
1
Given that yesterday was a major election day in my state, the dumpster fire's behavior at this rally strikes me as particularly heinous. I think we need to evaluate the benefits to free and peaceable elections of banning political campaigning on elections days.
Also, how can these rallies be normal? Reminds me of the daily 2 Minute Hate conditioning sessions in Orwell's "1984".
24
“They can make anything bad”
Quite simply, this is incitement. Overt or explicit intent is really beside the point. He knows what he’s doing (in this rare instance), and to characterize Trump’s behavior as un-American would probably be too generous.
24
Is there a stronger (or biglier) word than loathe? I cannot adequately explain how I feel about this non-man.
32
I suppose it can't happen but if the Press blacked-out its coverage of Trump's propagandist rallies, the impact of said rally would be confined to the very small contingent of local attendees. In other words, most people in the U.S. would never know. The Press is not doing itself, or the country, any favors by making national news of this carnival show.
20
Why does the media continue to cover his rallies? You guys gave him tens of millions of dollars worth of free advertising during the election which I believe helped him get elected. If I were a media outlet, I would refuse to cover all things Trump in protest - even if it's just for a day.
12
“Boring subjects” is the way a third-grader would describe what he studies in school. This is the way this 72-year-old man, this president of the United States, describes topics for discussion at his carnival/rallies. The 30-40 percent of you out there who are lapping this stuff up forever owe the rest of us a profound apology. I suggest, instead of swallowing all of this Q Anon conspiracy nonsense and anything that comes out of Trump’s mouth, you go to the library and check out some reputable history books. Maybe you'd learn something.
21
@Cmary True, Trump sounds like a lazy, unintelligent third grader. He obviously never paid any attention in school and was passed by his teachers so they could get rid of him. Later, when he was in college, Trump never attended class or read the text books. Nobody knew who he was.
5
His parents also sent him to military school b/c he was out of control. Prescient.
2
The Ugly America(n) prevails as its audience cheers on - while Rome burns - history repeats itself.
11
I grow exhausted spinning about Trump, the least qualified human being to hold the office of Presidency in my lifetime.
What I find most troubling is the sheep who listen to his lies and blindly follow. This is 40 percent of Americans who take his word over that of the main stream, professional media (it's called main stream for a reason folks), experts of every kind and independent fact checkers. They accept and even celebrate amoral and immoral behavior by this man and his administration. This 40 percent will still be there when Trump is long gone.
Being an American, sharing an identity with that 40 percent, has become an increasingly difficult thing to swallow.
27
@John P, no other job I know of places more demands on a polymath, which Trump isn't, and his followers have to look up the word in a dictionary to know its meaning.
We live in perilous times. At no point in the recent history of the USA has a sitting president told crowds to "not believe that they read" and that the media is the "enemy of the state."
Every time Trump attacks the media, particularly when he singles out CNN, MSNBC, the NYT, amongst others while lauding Fox News and Breitbart, he is betraying his Oath of Office to defend the Constitution. A Free Press, whether complimentary or critical of a president, is essential to freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution and our form of government. This "Fourth Estate" forms a type of check and balance wielded directly by the people, for better or worse. To attack one segment of the press while praising another is tantamount to the creation of a State Media.
He is protected by his Republican screen at this time. I would suggest we vote them out, to re-establish a check and balance to his rhetoric and behavior.
19
As a social psychologist I'm appalled, concerned, fascinated...never thought I'd be witnessing this level of misinformation and propaganda from a U.S. president.
31
Bash Fox News good. Bash CNN bad. And who said there was bias in the media. Yes
4
False equivalency. Fox is not now nor has it ever been “news”.
6
@Shamrock if that is all you got from the article you missed the point.
Why is he even having rallies?
What actual purpose do they achieve that is about governing?
And since they only serve a political purpose, why are the taxpayers paying for it?
(Yes, I know it is fun to rile up the base.)
9
He has “rallies” and doesn’t appear in public as a president - only as a candidate - for one simple reason: because that way he can control attendance and access. If he just went out and spoke publicly as ‘the president’, it would be a public event and the protests would vastly outweigh the support. That, in his opinion, is bad optics and doesn’t provide the ego stroking he requires. But the rallies allow him to only speak to, and be exposed to, the adoring throngs that worship him and hang on his every word. It wasn’t a mistake that he filed his re-election bid less than a week after taking office. This was the plan. It makes him look like - and feel like - he’s adored regardless of the fact that he’s despised by a majority of the country. It’s self-delusion on a grand scale. Throughout his life, Trump has proven himself to be adept at one thing - manipulation of his public image. Certainly it’s much harder to do that in the context of high elected office than it is as a private citizen, but he’s still trying. In fact, it’s his all-consuming passion.
6
I think it's time for the media to avoid attending and publicizing these events. The less the world sees of this embarrasing individual the better. He lives for these moments so why give him what he wants.
6
I am profoundly shocked at the logic behind "fake news". First of all, we never heard the term until Trump started spewing it around like sewage out of a pipe. How did the news media suddenly start printing things which were not true. I guess that means there is no large fire in California since fake news is reporting it, no dead people. Also, there is no great economy since fake news also reported that. And of course, Trump isn't president since fake news reported that. Hallelujah!!!
And to believe that Fox News is the only purveyor of truth is like everyone is out step but my son Johnny. Especially since some of their own reporters, bless you Sheperd Smith, don't even agree with the Trump toadies. Talk about picking and choosing what you want to hear.
Witnessing the dumbing down of a vast group of the electorate like this is truly horrifying.
12
I don’t know who’s worse, Elmer Fudd’s human persona or his aimless followers who seemingly don’t have the sense to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee and theirs.
4
Can the NYT tally up the HOURS that Trump has subjected us to calling news "fake", "denying collusion " and derogatory comments about people that disgust him?
Let's see just how effectively he wastes his own titimel as well as ours spouting off to get a rise out his base.
1
- Totalitarian Strategy Handbook -
Rule 1:
— Attack the media and convince your base that the press is an unreliable source of information. If successful, you, as the totalitarian leader, will become your base's "reliable" source of information. If unsuccessful, you, as the totalitarian leader, will be removed from power.
Rule 2:
— If you accomplished Rule 1, then proceed to change legislation to...
7
As the self proclaimed “patriots” cheer on the dope, they are actively participating in the degradation of our democracy. And ironically, they think they are doing just the opposite.
12
Trump is crazy. Doing what he does will bring down democracy. He doesn't know that, he doesn't know what he is doing, he has no consciousness. But he is the agent of chaos that was put there by mistake.
It has to stop and hopefully midterm elections will put an end to it. Change in Congress is the only thing that will save the US from falling.
2
Trump claims to have been a brilliant student at Wharton.
Questions arise.
(a) Did they teach him to market himself--affect infallibility, double down on lies and lies about lies about lies--to be the meta-mendacity champ?
(b) Is he lying about his academic accomplishments? He's reminiscent of the ancient paradox: "All Cretans are liars; I am a Cretan." True? False? Other?
(c) Did he once (as aWharton student?) know the difference between T and F?
(d) Does Wharton know the difference?
(e) Was he really a student there? Did he graduate?
5
@Michael Kubara Interesting questions. Has anyone ever seen his transcripts from Wharton? I guess his father just wrote a fat check to the school and told the bursar, "Just make sure he passes."
1
The silence on these issues from the screamers who wanted to see Obama's college transcripts as much as we would like to see Trump's tax returns, deafens me.
2
@Michael Kubara Having gone to Wharton around the same era (BS Economics, 1973) I wonder whether he paid someone to take his Economics 101 tests. The course of study was rigorous, although they had no class offerings in hucksterism, grifting, mendacity, or betraying your country. One of the classes we did have to take was on understanding law. That must have been a payoff too.
5
The Silence of the Lambs on the Republican side of the aisle is deafening. What happened to their oaths to defend the Constitution. Maybe they think it didn't include the first ten Amendments also known as The Bill of Rights. The Founders first hand experience with a tyrannical king is one of the reasons the First Amendment expressly preserved freedom of speech, association and the press. These are freedoms that are anathema to Trump because they speak truth to his lies.
16
@Drew, They gave these oaths to God, not to the people.
1
@Drew: To criticize the news media as fake by The Donald is not to threaten our rights under the First Amendment. We r still protected. But Trump is saying what many, millions of us have known for years, that the media, grosso modo, is the source of fakery, a branch of the DNC. 91 percent of news stories r anti Trump, and over 80 to 90 percent of Washington journos r liberals and registered Democrats, including the precinct captain, Bernie supporter, who opened fire on a baseball diamond, and whose actions were subsequently not so subtly defended by a female commentator on MSNBC because of the victim's, Scalise's support of gun rights. She is still on the job.FN would have fired anyone excusing violence on a Congressman because he or she disagreed on policy grounds would have been fired in a heartbeat!To talk about a "tyrannical king,"George III is absurd. The British monarch, like so many of his fellow citizens in the 1780's knew that mercantilism had had its day, and that GB stood to make more money by granting the Thirteen Colonies their independence than by clinging to them on mercantilist grounds, against all economic logic!
@Alexander Harrison now that was one wild rant! You forgot to mention Comet Pizza.
Roy Cohn, of McCarthy era fame and tutor to the young Donald, said for years that Nixon lost the presidency because he failed to win it in the court of public opinion. This is Trump's bible -- he thinks he can dodge the courts by discrediting the media and the organs of justice. It's a simple strategy and it might well work.
14
Articles about Trump always seem to refer to "mis-statements," "exaggerations," 'inaccurate claims" and "false." Why not call a thing by its correct and simple name, and simply say that Trump is telling lies. His base couldn't care less, of course, but a more pointed word describing what he does might have an impact on people who are happy with the economy and don't care about much else. After all, when lies catch up with you many things can go very wrong.
13
We have a POTUS who makes more time for campaign rallies than reading. Thanks Twitter for cementing these limited capabilities as all that's required to govern...
13
When does President Trump work?! Serious question.
13
This is his “work” — the “work” of fully and completely stupefying his base.
His “job” is to get them frothing at the mouth and HE IS WINNING, in the opinion of the stupefied.
We are doomed until the foaming dogs die off ... hopefully sooner than later.
5
He watches TV, golfs, eats, sleeps.
5
It's disgusting people go to a Trump rally and applaud this despot. His loyalists ignore the fact that after one year the special counsel investigating Trump's campaign has 19 indictments, 5 guilty pleas and 4 convictions and counting.
12
How many people really believe this malarkey? Some people believe that pro wrestling is real.
10
Our Propagandist-in-Chief wants to characterize the press as the "enemy of the people" because he doesn't want his supporters' minds to be confused by the facts -- they just might realize how thoroughly they've been lied to and manipulated.
8
Donald Trump is like that guy at work who's always stirring up intrigue and trouble, is into everybody's business, and barely gets his own work done. If anything gets accomplished, he takes credit for it. If things go badly, he points the finger at you. HR doesn't seem to be able to do anything about it.
Another commenter suggested if you haven't been the target of one of these toxic personalities, it just means they haven't gotten around to you yet. She was right.
When the King proclaims a certain group to be the enemy of the people, what is his implied intent to his subjects? This is America. It's only a matter of time until somebody in a swoon (just like the anti-abortion 'saviors') takes it upon himself to 'heroically' cleanse the kingdom of 'heretics.'
Are we watching any of these rally-goers for indications of organization with violent purpose? How about a little homeland security here? The Planned Parenthood shooters, imo, got tacit approval for their actions by not being treated as the terrorists they are.
If the intent of this rally rhetoric is to scare people, it's working. Since we have no leadership at the Executive or Congressional levels, is it too much to ask for leaders in other professions - academia, business, entertainment, clergy - to counteract this Orwellian co-option of language before we really don't know up from down? How about a little defense of journalistic standards, people?
Unless you’re a blood relative of Donald Trump, you could be next.
5
The majority of the MSM has a strong liberal bias, this is because the great majority of journalists are more liberal than the general population. Also the media today caters to a target audience, at the end of the day most media is trying to maximize profits for their owners. This is a capitalistic country after all.
2
@dave - Facts have a liberal bias. I know this because when I faced facts I had to stop being a Republican.
4
every time i see the photos that depict trump rallies i know i would fit right in. buy a new t shirt grab a sign. yes this is my tribe. these are my people.
why would i want too, is the real question. as a coastal elite these tribal KIN sicken me with their need to elevate ignorance and hubris in our Nation.
Please vote this november, please.
4
Heard on Twitter: Many of the rally attendees are paid. Found their spots on Craig's list.
How about investigating that?
9
Sadly, marketing that works all too well...repeat simple nonsense. I'm surprised he doesn't have some sort of jingle. Few think critically, few know how.
6
Watching even a few moments of a Trump rally is a disturbing experience. It is a cult-like spectacle infused with vitriol, false claims and outright lies — all devoured by a crowd of paid performers that seems insanely mesmerized by a megalomaniacal ruffian. Nothing will dissuade Trump from holding these absurd pep rallies; it's his elixir of choice. The only way to counter the angst engendered in these revolting events is for the media to refuse to cover them — patently refuse. One pool reporter is sufficient. If news is made, he or she will be there to document it. Otherwise, it's an enormous waste of vital media resources. You want theatre? See a Broadway play.
8
@H. Clark Trump appears to be completely off his rocker, possibly under the influence.
2
I know a minister who--years back as a young man--labored in Scranton, PA.
He had some things to say about Scranton:
"A place," he called it, "where the American dream. . .
". . .DIED."
Scranton and Wilkes-Barre are pretty close together.
But so many places in rural or semi-rural Pennsylvania! They're not doing so well! So few jobs--and those jobs pay so little! So little financial security. Let alone prosperity. So little hope! People toil away. They get by. Sort of.
ALL THIS TO SAY. . ..
. . .that when a man like Mr. Donald J. Trump sails into town. . ..
. .. declaring fervently--and his worst enemy could never deny: this man knows how to work a crowd--
. . .declaring fervently to all these hope-starved people, "I, the President of the United States--I Donald J. Trump. . .
". . . .am your FRIEND and ALLY. . . ."
. . the crowds go wild. They eat it up.
And the economy continues to flourish. Jobs galore are being ADDED to that economy. I get the impression that--really--we're all doing pretty well. . . . .
. . .and I firmly believe Mr. Trump to be an imposter and a charlatan. . . .
. . .who (down deep) cares for nobody and nothing but himself. . . .
. . .and whose policies (in the long run) spell little good for the people of the United States. . .
. .. INCLUDING Wilkes-Barre and Scranton. . . .
. .. and I don't know WHAT to say. Or think. Or do.
Any suggestions?
2
@Susan Fitzwater
"and I don't know WHAT to say. Or think. Or do.
Any suggestions? "
VOTE and support representation that understands service to the Constitution and the people. Doing well financially is a positive thing. I agree that the economy seems to be doing really well. Remember that this is only possible because of the last admin. That being said, a healthy economy is not critical to a functional Democracy. Leadership that honors their oath to the Constitution in service to it's people, is. Freedom of the press, transparency and telling the truth is critical to keeping and having Democracy. Obstructing justice, alienating our allies, destroying our status as a world leader to all as THE example of freedom and justice for all, is not. This admin and the so called "Republican" party have abandoned its people for greed and power. VOTE Get as many people as you can to VOTE to stop this egregiously dangerous man.
2
Analysis of this man is futile.
He's a low-class, uneducated man who has never been characterized as nice or kind or thoughtful or honest, even by the mob which adores him.
No one in his orbit exhibits honesty or professional competence.
He's a toothache for most of us--not a man you'd want as a neighbor.
5
While reading this article it occurred to me that every topic the president claims the press doesn't cover nor give him credit for was actually covered in depth by NYT, WAPO, HuffPost, Guardian, NYDaily News, NY Post, The Economist, Time magazine, CNN, MSNBC and the PBS News Hour. Every single good result he claims he brought about was covered. The fact that these screaming fans of his don't know that probably means he has so gaslighted them they refuse to even poke their nose into any source that is not Fox News. I wonder if someone went through their newspaper recycling and clipped out every article or printed it out off a digital source and compiled a nice big scrapbook for him that would make him feel better.
Sadly, I doubt it, since it is not normal news coverage he craves. If, for example, jobs numbers improve he wants the coverage to go beyond giving people the facts and saying this was a win for him. He wants it to glorify him. He wants it to say that no president on the history of America has ever done such a brilliant thing and he deserves all the credit. If an article points out THE FACT that a rush to place soybean orders before the tariffs were in place gave a bit of a bump to GDP, he is infuriated. There can be no blemish on his glory.
It is because any inference that Russian meddling tilted even a few votes his way blemishes his victory in his eyes that he denies Russian meddling, even after his five top National Security heads just briefed us on it.
Sad.
3
Institutions of journalism are institutions of democracy and to attack them, is to attack democracy itself.
12
"In Helsinki, I had a great meeting with Putin," Trump said. "We discussed everything. ... We got along really well. By the way, that's a good thing, not a bad thing. Now we're being hindered by the Russian hoax -- it's a hoax, OK?"
WHAT? This at the "rally" hours after that press conference on Russian hacking and security? What exactly is the intent for these tax payer funded "rallys?" It appears the intent is to spread "fake news" by the POTUS.
10
I agree wholeheartedly with many commenting here, stop covering trumps’ rallies.
6
Trump's rallies are a two-way addiction-fest: he feeds his craving for adoration, his base feeds its craving for the emotional high of hating of everything they see as a threat to their tribe. As with any addiction, willful ignorance of the truth is necessary on both sides.
As Paul Krugman wrote today, Trump has told his base to their faces that he considers them a bunch of lemmings willing to follow him over a cliff ("I could shoot somebody on 5th Avenue"), yet they support him.
Yes there is a Deep State, the Deep State of Gullibility.
32
We're a stone's throw away from having state-installed TVs in our household and a mandatory picture of the POTUS above our mantelpieces.
Please vote. Please encourage others to vote. The future of this country is at stake and I'd love for it to still be left for my son to grow up in.
18
Trump is that crazy uncle who is showing hallmark signs of someone progressively encumbered by an aging, 72 year old brain.
The second oldest president was Ronald Reagan who showed signs of mental decline such as in his changing speech patterns near the end of his presidency. Ronald Reagan was eventually diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
Donald Trump is the oldest President of the United States.
Donald Trump appears to be in good physical health despite his regular diet of McDonald's and his lack of regular exercise.
His declining mental health is evident: There is an increasing lack of self-awareness, progressive loss of clarity in thought, loss of language sophistication, increasing unable to make executive decisions and tendency towards conspiracy theories and grandiosity.
This is not uncommon. It is unique however for this crazy uncle to have a global soap box.
7
Doesn't Trump have a country to run, or something?
9
Don’t worry, Pence, McConnell and The Heritage Foundation are busy at work! Trump is just a distraction.
5
@Steve Good question, but actually he doesn't. Running the country is the furthest thing from his warped mind. It's all about self-preservation, bloviating, and squeezing adulation from a substandard, intoxicated crowd. Talk about sad!
2
I was a freelance journalist for seven years, so I know how they, my journalists protect the truth.
There is nothing beyond CNN and MSNBC that is beyond telling the truth.
Prove that wrong, Fox.
2
I am equal parts disgusted that the President of the United States continues to attack the free press in this way and astounded that his base laps it up. Who are these people? Honestly.
16
Coverage could have been limited to:
Trump attended a rally last night where he continued his dishonest assault on the media and repeated other lies about recent meetings with North Korea and Russia.
That is it...the press could watch it remotely. By attending you are providing a prop for hatred.
Real reporters would give it a miss. Its not news. Its bad theatre.
7
Trump reminds me of Jim Jones, the cult leader who had nearly a thousand of his followers — children included — line up to drink the Kool-Aid that would deliver them to their deaths. His rallies are an exercise in watching an unhinged, paranoid despot attempt to extract adulation from a marginal, undernourished crowd. I would not allow my child to watch a Trump rally — ever. It's that disturbing. How much longer can America tolerate this insanity?
9
Please stop covering these rallies. Trump only repeats the same things over and over again. Still reliving his electoral victory. How pathetic. Again, I would like to know who pays the bill for him going to these rallies. Especially with him saying he will campaign six to seven days a week in the fall. The media is continuing to feed this beast, just as they did from the moment he announced his run.
2
How would it be if the 'enemies of the people' just put their heads together and boycotted Trump for a number of days. Just blanked and flat out ignored him. He'd HATE that. And maybe do something similar in the White House Briefing room? Turn your backs on Sanders - or got up and walked out en masse. It drives me mad to think that Trump is more or less inciting violence against the Press Corps and there's no retaliation.
6
When the lights go out there are two different types of behavior that emerge from a crowd. Donald Trump is expert at mobilizing those that write on bathroom walls. He spent years in New York City disrupting anything that stood in his way to build bigly. Upset the applecart just to see where the apples roll.
To those having a good time hooting in favor of journalists' death, the apples you watch rolling are not under your control.
I watch the CNN "news show" (and THAT ought to be a clue as to their impartiality) because FOX and Friends is downright silly and inconsequential. But they are both equally prejudiced, except FOX is only marginally more subtle.
I envy CNN's ability to start the morning with a tweet from the Idiot-In-Chief and string it out all day and well into the evening: the money and time saved in programming must be enormous. What would happen to CNN's anti-Trump rant if actual, important news were to happen, is a matter of conjecture.
In playing Trump's game, CNN is equally complicit in a twisted bit of symbiosis that is slowly eroding our political, ethnic, and ethical fabric. Trump on the stage is driven by the heat of the moment, ignorance, and inability to control his mouth. What is CNN's excuse? They are supposed to be the objective, fact driven, adult in the room.
6
Who is paying for these freak show rallies? Why do I think Trump bills is for them? How about some totals of money spent on each show?
5
It is a sad commentary on us humans that hate comes naturally, but love needs to be learned and nurtured. We have so much to learn from those mute and dumb animals.
3
Is this internecine argument about Trump's media abuse more important than reporting the death of a child who died from an infection caught while in federal custody or the emerging pattern of sexual abuse and assaults by supposed vetted workers hired by private care contractors The Office of Refugee Resettlement chose.
The media fight is about vanity. The children, dead, assaulted or raped, are a national horror and disgrace. Oppositional-defiant personalities (Acosta, Sanders) do not trump our national shame. The media can silence Trump with full coverage of the lingering fear of children who witnessed and lived the horror our country put them through. The footage should equal his rallies.
5
How many of those Trump ware-wearing, flag-waving rally-goers is a paid participant? The sorry show in all its elements has the feel of a scripted propaganda event. Trump doesn't have the guts to stand up before real Americans. These folks are heavily screened; it is all carefully controlled. It is our very own lowclass version of Nuremberg. The slobs sitting there grinning and smirking are beyond contemptible. Russia is welcome to the whole lot of them and good luck with that.
10
I wish the press would stop covering these "rallies" as all the press is doing is giving Trump free publicity. All these "rallies" reveal (again and again) is a president spewing propaganda, not acting presidential and being unfit for his job. These "rallies" are the equivalent of hate-speech and not newsworthy.
In addition, for all of Trump's complaining, he loves press attention. Deny him what he craves.
10
The media, out of politeness, or fear of handing Trump a talking point, will not speak directly to the issue of Trump's base. Look, half the population, by definition, has an IQ of less than 100. People with limited intellect struggle to distinguish between valid information and propaganda. They are more moved by emotion than reason. They are more likely to drawn into racism, xenophobia and fear-based messaging. They are more likely to resist change, technology and social progress. They are far more likely to blindly hero-worship a demagogue. Trump's political success is entirely due to his ability to connect on a gut level with people on the left side of the Bell Curve.
The success he is having with vilifying the media is limited. Overall, trust in legitimate media has risen since 2016. But the core of Trump's base - the cohort that flocks to his rallies and their ilk - pose a very real threat to America and the world. Their sycophancy fuels Trump's narcissism, and his lies fuel their devotion and rage. When Trump starts to feel cornered by the coming crush of accountability for his actions, he will lash out. Some of these rally-goers will act if they are encouraged. If Trump doesn't quit, things are going to get nasty.
7
Who pays the cost of these "rallies?" Are the trips and venues paid for by the Republican Party or are taxpayers being stuck with the bill for the president running around to get his sycophants to bow and scrape to him? And does this person who considers himself such a genius ever actually do any work? Any one who has studied any history knows that this behavior was and is typical of demagogues and dictators.
7
He wanted huge crowds at his inauguration and he did not get it. It’s time to give trump crowds of demonstrators. I remember the demonstrators signs during Nixon’s administration. My favorite was “Nixon pull out like your father should have.”
2
I watched President Trump's rally in Wilkes-Barre last night on FN. As are all his rallies, this one was truly inspiring. Watching on TV is one thing, but to attend one in person is another, as I had the privilege to do. The arena is filled with the energy of patriotic fervor. For those of us who truly love America, he is a godsend. Thank you.
1
@Southern Boy
Can you please provide more detail as to specifically what inspired you? It is an honest question without judgement. I am truly looking to understand what you mean by "filled with the energy of patriotic fervor". I appreciate any willingness to help me understand your support of the President.
3
@Southern Boy
Just a quick correction: I think you meant to type "For those of us who truly love Russia, he is a godsend."
Thank you.
6
@Southern Boy - Call me crazy but I didn't think loving America involved poisoning our air and water, lying, spouting hate speech and locking children in cages.
7
Evidently the state of Pennsylvania needs drastically to improve its public schools, so more educated citizens - or even better, none at all - will attend the faker’s ridiculous rallies.
5
I watched a few minutes of trumps rally in Pennsylvania last night. If that's not demagoguery I don't know what it is. His yelling that the press is the enemy of the people is Stalinesque. It's also dangerous. The way he is whipping up crowds is going to result in bloodshed.
15
NYT, I want data. I want to know how many people are at each of these rallies. I want to know how they are organized. I want to know how many attendees are rally followers, from state to state versus how many are one-time locals.
I am getting no real reporting about the facts of these rallies, which Trump seems to be banking his reign on. Are they truly a threat to democracy? Or are they a fool blathering to a small closed fan base?
When you and other media outlets report what he says at these events, it isn’t enough. We need to know factually what these events actually are. Otherwise you’re just stirring the pot.
9
@joymars ME too...I want data about these things and I want them to stop covering the rallies for hate he has
@joymars
It would be interesting to know how many of the attendees, if any, are being paid.
Folks I hate to point this out because I'm as guilty as anyone but the reason the NYT et al cover these rallies is because they're good click bait. Those of us who hate Trump have helped build him up almost as much as those who love him.
I read these stories mainly for the comments because it's comforting to see how many good people are out there speaking out against hatred, violence and bigotry, but our eyeballs on the page mean that this is the news we will continue to receive.
3
Trump is escalating his attack on journalists as a diversionary tactic in response to the Manafort trial and Cohen situation, but especially as the conspiracy investigation inches closer to him.
It is my belief that he's "whipping" up his extremely white, working class, unstable, and extremist base hoping some will act out violently against journalists, with the ultimate goal of suppressing free speech and a free press through fear.
But the real problem isn't Trump. It isn't even his extremist base. The real problem is the Republican party and Republicans in Congress who refuse to do the right thing and check, stop, contradict and censure Trump.
Again, why are we all -- Democrats, Republicans, whatevers -- not calling, writing, tweeting or whatever ALL members of Congress every day demanding they do so? These people work for us. It's our money paying their salaries. It's our government. They are answerable to us not the Russian puppet currently sitting in the oval office.
3
As well he should draw attention to the decline of the MSM and "journalism" in general. The bias is unprecedented and is of historical significance. News has become a commodity ordered to fulfill market profitability metrics. Daily headlines at this paper are most often editorialized.
1
What a ridiculous statement. Yeah, that's the president's job: hold rallies to desecrate the 1st Amendment.
4
@John thank you for a wonderful example of the straw man.
I can't wait until the trash of America's moment in the sun is over. I know that sounds angry, mean and uncivilized, but these people who show up at Trump rallies for a chance to freely hoot and jeer and be as awful as they want to be truly are contemptable (especially those who bring children to these hate-ins). I hope someday they will recognize their error, they will feel shame, they will seek forgiveness and they will commit to being better; I will then gladly embrace them as compatriots. But I know it’s more than likely most of them will go to their graves full of hate and jealousy, blaming others for their shortcomings, unaware that all along they were being exploited by vampires like Donald Trump, Sarah Palin, Sean Hannity et al, ad nauseam. Sad.
6
Our "president" spends an inordinate amount of time going after various members of the news media. The free press is protected under the First Amendment to our Constitution. Does Trump now want to repeal that Amendment? He sounds more and more like a dictator every day. It is my my that he will soon become a one term president.
2
This is what a cult looks like. Reminds me of what the character Gordon Gekko said in the film "Wall Street" - "Know what happens to sheep? They get slaughtered."
4
I have never forgiven the NYT and some of their counterparts for helping Trump to build his campaign but I still subscribe and hope that despite their relentless drive for click bait and ad revenue some of the truth they report will make a difference. At this point it's all we have to cling to.
2
Why are we the tax payers paying for these rallies?
8
These "young people" need to be investigated. They look like paid demonstrators to me.
3
Trump's broadside attacks on the media constitute one of the hallmarks of incipient fascism. We should recognize the danger in this. Trump is creating a mob culture that is extremely troubling. He is also boosting the status of Fox News which is the epitome of "fake news" in America. Other discredited outlets such as the National Enquirer, Alex Jones, Breitbart and Rush Limbaugh get the presidential imprimatur while legitimate news outlets are being denigrated. This will not stop until we remove Trump and his Republican sycophantic enablers from office.
17
I feel sick and frustrated seeing pictures like this and cannot comprehend why people with a normal IQ willingly and joyfully contribute to the undermining of US and western democracy.
3
In light of Trump's recent meeting with A.G. Sulzberger, we must now acknowledge that the so-called president really hopes to see violence against the very honorable and trustworthy members of the media who are stuck covering his miserable rallies.
4
No self respecting American citizen wants to hear an elected official whining like a child about how they are treated in the media. It's pathetic behavior and not to be tolerated by mature Americans.
Trump deserves to be shunned as the criminal and outcast that he is. His psychopathy and mental disease informs his every word and act. He has committed atrocities against women and others. His crimes rise to the level of treason. He belongs in prison for the rest of his life for his life of crime.
11
In a word, pathetic. First Daughter was interviewed recently and she was quoted saying that she did not believe in the fake news battle cry.
1
Starve the beast — send one AP reporter to his ralllies and take no video.
7
Trump's attacks against America's first amendment should offend every American patriot.
5
It's time the news media shuns Trump and no longer prints his harmful rhetoric and lies which mainly come in the form of tweets. Time to boycott the press conferences as there is little of merit said and he has much to gain as he continues to stir controversy and manipulate the public against the media.
I would compare it to a toddler having a temper tantrum, the only real solution is to ignore the child and walk away. If you pay attention to the behavior you continue to encourage it. Thus if you want to rid yourself of Trump's negative remarks about the media then one stop printing them and stop showing up at the press conferences for a short period. It won't help if only CNN changes its tactics, it must be the majority of the news agencies. Report on the government but stop mentioning Trump by name like our former President has done.
The original central air conditioning unit in my house just failed after 25 years, so I had a technician visit to prepare a quote for a new system. Lo and behold, prices have risen 11% since Trump started his trade war.
Trump is the hair of the dog that bit us.
2
The national press MUST stop attending and covering Trump rallies. He would have no one to rant about if there were no members of the press in attendance. Since these rallies offer nothing new, why bother to cover them?
7
Approximately 350 of us from Action Together NEPA and other groups loudly protested the president’s policies, lies, and many other grievances as his motorcade drove by us. We were controlled by police officers with dogs and others on horseback. The president appeared to roll down his window and wave at us as we chanted, “Lock him up.” Perhaps it would have been appropriate to have included in this story, the fact that along with his adoring fans, there were not so adoring Pennsylvanians who are terribly upset about the way his administration and the Republican controlled Congress are governing.
4
Media are needed and much appreciated. But could certainly do better by "defending democracy". USA really is not a democracy until we have the National Popular Vote as the electoral factor. We are so divided and conquered at this point by the Trump mindset that I'm doubtful this country will ever heal, mend, and come together in moderation. The left screams loudly, the right screams loudly, and thoughtfulness about making democracy work is never heard. Each "side" refuses to work except to achieve their own very different and separate agendas. We must do better and can do better if wiser and cooler heads can be heard and are listened to for our shared future. Red states should not have more voice because they have more land; and blue states are put on equal footing when one person, one vote rules. That is democracy.
The whole media is like Facebook: you get what you pay for, and if it happens to be nothing, you will lose something in the process.
Pictures of these rallies make me think the Hunger Games aren’t so far fetched. Bring ‘em on.
1
These Trump "campaign rallies" are an exercise in absurdity, a mega toot on the ego pumps for Donald Trump and a golden opportunity to spread anger, hatred and distrust across America. What's not to like?
Please wake up, people of Wilkes-Barre: ALL DICTATORS want the public to believe they are the only source of truth and that anything coming out of anywhere but their mouths are lies. That's how they control you and try to control the world.
Because Trump can't shutdown CNN, he has to blast it day and night. Why does he hate it so? Because the reporters and producers there don't worship him like those who work for Fox Noise do. Yet, he needs this "enemy" so he can use it as a foil. If he didn't have CNN and the NY Times to denounce, he'd have to invent them.
I am willing to bet that one day half or more of the people who enjoyed these absurd rallies will one day be ashamed of their eager participation and cheering.
4
Trump is panicking about the Russia investigation. He wants to discredit the investigation and the news media that reports it.Bad; bad news is coming for Trump; he hopes to blunt it by destroying his "enemies"; Mueller and the news media. GOP is totally corrupt; Rand Paul actually going to Russia; GOP silent about Trump's Helsinki debacle.Vote out GOP for health care and a living wage. Ray Sipe
1
Wrestlemania is $80 on pay-per-view, but the rallies are free. This explains so much.
4
"[Trump's] adoring crowd waving the American flag." When I see the American flag these days, I now think Confederate flag.
2
It used to be called "Dog Whistles" but now he is just "Whistling Dixie" wherever he goes. Pretty soon the "Lock Em Up" will be directed at journalists. Then good bye, it is Germany 1932.
4
We are living in dangerous times.
We must right our ship.
Please vote wisely.
7
Is it only "Fake News" as it relates to Trump? Are we to believe that there are huge fires in the west and heavy rains in the East? Is the economy really booming? Is unemployment really at an all time low? You need to tell us Dear Leader what parts to believe and when to believe our own eyes.
4
Trump is a cheesy game show host. The audience is "Let's Make a Deal", complete with home-made signs, mindless screaming. He has an interest in this audience NOT dealing with questions from the press so he demonizes the American press.
The press should definitely request protection and sue.
The taxpayers should not be paying for hate-fests that discriminate.
Throw the bum out.
8
Trump is one move away from checkmate. And the folks in this picture are gung-ho to end the game. The Supreme Court might just let him do it, too. The one move? Make fake news illegal, and the President the final judge of what is fake. The pieces are all set up. Putin does it, so do all the other tyrants Trump loves. These folks don’t realize they are applauding the end of the American idea.
5
In the old days, when the king didn't like the news, he'd have the messenger beheaded. Of course, it doesn't change the news but it make the king feel better. Trump wishes he could simply behead the news media but it's a little harder now. Nor will it change the truth of the message.
9
“If the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the law and the facts are against you," blame the messenger...
With apologies to Carl Sandburg
5
The joke is really on DJT. When he rally's for anyone, they most likely will lose points and votes.
1
It feels as though Trump is inciting/inviting a new civil war.
6
Yesterday Dan Coates stated in the WH that "we continue to see a pervasive messaging campaign by Russia to try to weaken and divide the USA." Clearly and painfully, we heard that messaging at the rally in PA and FL. Mr. Coates omitted stating that the messenger on Russia's behalf to weaken and divide the USA is trump.
Trump is the one with the trump self-derangement syndrome. Or is it the Adolf derangement syndrome - even their strident vocal tone and messaging is frightfully similar.
Qrazy!
8
Just shows the media are doing their jobs after all!
3
Unfit to govern, the Baby King can only hold campaign rallies that stroke his ego and inflame the uneducated hordes. Facts are troublesome things for trump. Mr. Mueller has gathered and is gathering the facts that will end trump's "presidency" and likely his freedom. trump is a stain on the nation. His time in the spotlight will end. Yet what shall be the fate of Fox "Newz" propaganda? This vile infotainment is a cancer on democracy, as is Citizens United. The danger to the nation is far greater than trump.
4
Please stop covering his rallies. It’s just a blowhard spewing hatred and lies to his minions who are deathly afraid of the truth. Cut off his oxygen, he will be gone soon anyway. A footnote in history.
7
If it’s about business, it’s business news. If it’s about sports, it’s sports news. If it’s about this fake in the White House, what else can it be but fake news?
4
Trump is not just a narcissist, but worse. He is now behaving like a proto-Hitler. He has learned the delicate art of rousing thousands against his enemies: the press, all truth tellers...
\
With 45+ million mindless followers who adore rhetoric, it will make it very difficult for a candidate who speaks rationally, to defeat this unhinged person.
Even worse, we may now see man-handling of the press and possible murders? The situation is getting worse by the day...
11
I love the smell of fear and desperation in a cornered traitor.
11
You shouldn’t run for president merely to gratify your own ego.
7
Whereas other politicians seemed to dither or to act as mere administrators, Hitler projected purpose and dynamism. They remained trapped within the existing conventions of political life; he proved a master at denouncing those conventions and manipulating the media. The first politician to tour the country by air during an election campaign, Hitler issued an endless stream of slogans to win potential supporters over. He would make Germany great again. He would give Germans work once more. He would put Germany first. He would revive the nation’s rusting industries, laid to waste by the economic depression. He would crush the alien ideologies—socialism, liberalism, communism—that were undermining the nation’s will to survive and destroying its core values." "
From https://www.thenation.com/article/the-ways-to-destroy-democracy/
8
The real headline ought to read: "Trump declares war on Truth, doubles down on deceits."
8
Certainly if you are colluding with hostile foreign powers, laundering illicit foreign funds and making money from your position in government it is not in your interest to have a robust press watching your every move.
7
If Trump is just telling lies and screaming at the the news media, perhaps the news media should just stop covering his events. Let him rant in his little dark place with his few sycophants. Let the tree fall in the forest with no one to hear.
12
@GusI agree. Someone suggested that one outfit cover the rallies for the pool. Let Trump see minimal TV coverage and maybe he will lose some of his fervor.
1
@Gus
If Sarah Sanders would hold more press conferences, the first question to her should be:
So tell us specifically what did have reported that is "fake" news?
1
In theory, you might be right. In practice, Fox will cover it anyway and spin it to trump's advantage. The rest of the media needs to be there to cover-- and maybe not broadcast-- it for the record, short sections of which they could use as evidence of trump's pathological lying and demagoguery (as well as Fox's bias), when necessary. But covering these rallies and running them as if they were important news is what got him elected in the first place, and should be avoided at all cost by responsible media outlets.
I do believe it is time for mass electronic media, to pull the plug on this madman’s senseless vicious blabbering. Truth of the matter, they are just widening his audience. The media is actually propagating “fake news” by polluting the airwaves with Trump’s nonsense!
Tom Franzson Brevard NC
3
Memo to Trump: "Fake" "Disgusting" describe you exactly.
Furthermore an investigation needs to be undertaken immediately into your use of taxpayer money for the purpose of your propaganda/photo-op rallies.
7
Ah... president “ insult,” sleepin Bob! Real leadership in evidence.. paplum for the masses! Leader of the free world. Someone needs to tell him that the democrats reject his agenda because they loathe his agenda, why?.... because it’s dangerous to democracy. Pretty simple. By the way.. the hats and tee shirts those masses are wearing... they’re manufactured in China! Make America great again.
6
The press should boycott all Trump rallies. He would die from lack of TV attention.
5
@Fairview
Good idea.
And the crowds would certainly drop off if the press was not there.
I don't think most Trump supporters are "conned" by Trump. The things he lies about are too obvious to fool even a 10 year old. No, they like the fact that he is a racist, that he scorns science and reason and makes decisions from "the gut" without the burden and responsibility of having to read and study and think about things, that he gets away with adultery and lying, and that their kind of Christianity and its preachers give them religious justification for supporting this behavior.
19
@Cowboy Marine
You have to be correct.
I have been in stunning disbelief for the past 2 years that ANYbody with half a brain could support this imbecile, Trump. His constant stream of vile rhetoric is nauseating.
Trump's appeal must be the cesspool in which he lives...he provides justification for their hatred.
We are in deep trouble, America.
2
The man who makes everything up is the real enemy of the people. SAD!!! and dangerous to boot.
7
Just curious. If this President gets into office for another four years and continues his attack on the the free press of this democracy, journalists banned because he doesn't like what they say, isn't that dictatorship?
11
That's funny. I was just wondering about the remains of our Korean War dead that are suddenly being identified and shipped back. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if trump told Kim to just send us some empty coffins, we'll take care of the selling of the returning war dead story. I'd truly hate to think there's any truth to my thoughts here but, with this monstrosity and his band of merry sycophants, you have to wonder. SAD!!!
2
Stop covering these Trump rallies! They are pure demagoguery! He makes Fidel Castro sound sedate -- and rational.
6
Up is down. Black is white.
Trump is easy to figure out. Everything is opposite of what he says.
What he calls fake news is real news. And what he calls real news (Fox) is fake news.
12
"I wouldn't mind a little bow. In Japan, they bow. I love it. Only thing I love about Japan."
- Donald Trump
And his fans obey.
7
The media should simply stop covering Trump, ignore his tweets, ignore his rallies, ignore White House briefings. A news blackout on this unhinged buffoon would make him change his tune, or drive him even loonier than he is. As for his rallygoers, they are the new Know Nothings.
11
@Christy In addition, it is clear that his administration, particularly--- Matthis, the FBI, the DNI, and perhaps even Pompeo--- are making policy without the President, at times even in contradiction to the President. The NYT and other responsible outlets should cover them rather than the President---since even his cabinet seems to be ignoring him.
2
@Christy Trump would love your suggestion. Without news coverage, Trump can do whatever he wants to undermine the Constitution and pour rights.
1
Fake news, New York Times, you just can't help yourselves, can you? If you reduce 4% GDP growth, record-low unemployment, tax cuts, regulatory reform, and respect in the world to "talking points," you prove the president is right about you. Thanks. Your hatred will propel Republicans to victory in November and in 2020. Some day you'll figure that out.
1
I agree The NY Times always adds in an anti-Trump slant even when reporting things that may actually be good news, like current economic growth. However, the fact is that Trump consistently lies and exaggerated and he deliberately stirs up his base by encouraging hatred and bigotry. The Times is not wrong about that and does have a duty to call him out on it.
2
@Alexandra Hamilton - It's not being anti Trump to point out the harm Trump is doing to the economy.
1
“Whatever happened to fair press?” he asked. “Whatever happened to honest reporting?”
Whatever happened to Presidents who supported their own government over Russia?
17
This article is just more of an example of the FAKE NEWS and the liberal bias and agenda!
Even when you appear to be trying to do actual reporting, you then inject stuff like this:
"(Despite his assurances, the country has continued testing, and it is unclear if and how the remains were properly identified.)"
You have to interject personal bias and call into question if the remains received are genuine.
Instead of reporting that it is an accomplishment for Trump that he got some MIA/KIA remains for US soldiers returned from North Korea so they can have a proper burial as war heroes, you have to call into question if it is really an accomplishment with no evidence that they aren't the remains of US soldiers.
What does it matter if it is 55 US soldiers? Does the number really matter? 1 or 100? It is a US soldier finally coming home to rest! It is the re-start of
The program had ended in 2005 because of tensions between our countries, so NO REMAINS had been returned for 13 years, until Trump came along!
And even if your reporting is 99% factual, once you interject your bias or political agenda into that article, the entire article becomes propoganda/fake news. Now I don't know what parts might be true, and what parts are politically motivated.
Ignorance and propaganda are the enemy of the people, and since that is what the media is peddling anymore, then yes, the media are the enemy of the people!
1
@Will Okay, so what is your opinion of Fox News? Are they more, or less, objective than the Times? Do you detect any bias in Fox's reporting, and, if so, are you ready to also condemn Fox as "FAKE NEWS"? If not, could it be because Fox confirms your biases whereas the NYT and other long-standing papers of record confront them? Just asking you to be honest with yourself, Will.
5
The thing that got me about his rant last night was when he talked about the "Russian hoax" it received muted applause compared to when he tore into the media. VOTE.
10
I watched some of this rally.
I'm sorry but what in the world is this "rally"? I've never seen this kind of display from a President.
This presentation was unhinged, straight up bats, and scary. There is nothing normal about it. It's like watching the making of a 3rd world dictator.
This man must be removed from office A.S.A.P..
13
When the "stink" coming from Trump's grabbing, treasonous Russian connections , money laundering and obstruction is reported, it is not those reporting it and not those investigating it who caused the stink.
Claims that every thing is false and that facts don't matter is all that Trump and the Trumpies can try to do to save this dying disaster of a presidency. Ain't working.
Trump worshipers have put on a blind fold.... real Americans have not.
1
I grew up in the Wilkes-Barre area from 1931 until I left in 1959. It was a very good union city and lots of good democrats. Now as I look at this crowd from my home in Ann Arbor Michigan I am very sad to see a lot of young folks cheering on such a person as Trump. He is even now saying that the Queen stood him up for 15 minutes. Soon, he will brag that the Wilkes-Barre crowd was over a hundred thousand. Pathetic!
9