Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The conflict between President Trump and the media once again came into public view during a press conference last week.
Whether you agree with the president or not, you have to admit he has a valid objection as to how media presents news about the Trump administration.
David French, writing in National Review On-Line notes that both the New York Times and CNN had major stories about Trump’s campaign team having repeated contacts or constant communications with senior Russian officials during the 2016 campaign.
The Times did add a caveat to their story, stating that, “The officials would not disclose many details, including what was discussed on the calls, the identity of the Russian intelligence officials who participated, and how many of Mr. Trump’s advisers were talking to the Russians. It is also unclear whether the conversations had anything to do with Mr. Trump himself.”
When one examines the Times’ disclaimer, you discover that some un-named U.S. government officials didn’t tell the newspaper what they talked about with some un-named Russian intelligence officials, who had conversations with some un-named Trump advisors that may or may not have had anything to do with Donald Trump. One could say without fear of contradiction that these stories were based on unfounded rumors.
The opening paragraph from an Associated Press story reads, “The Trump administration is considering a proposal to mobilize as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up unauthorized immigrants, including millions living nowhere near the Mexico border …”
Does anyone in the press have a rudimentary understanding of what it takes to mobilize 100,000 troops even if they are on active duty and in some state of readiness? Throw in all the comments from reporters and pundits about yellow badges, Jews and Nazis and you begin to see that this story also might be based on unfounded rumors.
During the seven years between 2009 and 2015 the Obama administration deported more than 2.5 million people. Two and a half million comes to 6,868 per week and that’s more than 10 times the 680 undocumented workers the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency arrested last week.
Yet it’s the Trump team causing panic in the immigrant community. Unfounded rumors?
One final minor reason why Trump may dislike the media. New York Times reporter Jacob Bernstein, son of Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein, told someone at a party, that “Melania is a hooker.” Young Bernstein did apologize profusely, saying it was “not in keeping with the standards of the Times.” He also said he was “referring to unfounded rumors.”
Rube Render is the Curry County Republican chairman. Contact him at: