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AP Report: Trump Administration Continued Its Anti-Journalism Campaign Over the Weekend, With the White House Issuing False Statements About Inauguration Coverage

Jan 23, 2017  •  Post A Comment

“Donald Trump’s ‘running war’ on the media is continuing into his presidency, with statements over the weekend calling into question the extent to which information from the White House can be trusted,” TV writer David Bauder reports for the AP.

Bauder notes that White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was scheduled to hold his first daily press briefing today, and “could face questions about a statement Saturday night that included demonstrably false assertions about the crowd size at Trump’s inauguration and a promise by the new administration that ‘we’re going to hold the press accountable.'”

The report quotes Dan Rather commenting on the situation Sunday, saying: “I hope that people will stop, pull back for what we in television call a wide shot and see what is happening. This is a deliberate propaganda campaign.”

Bauder adds that Trump over the weekend “took exception to stories saying the crowd for Friday’s inauguration was smaller than those for predecessor Barack Obama. Trump declared that journalists are ‘the most dishonest human beings on Earth,’ saying ‘I have a running war with the media.'”

“Spicer made two unprovable statements in his briefing: that photographs of the audience at Trump’s inaugural were intentionally framed to minimize the appearance of support, and that Trump drew the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration,” the report adds. “But he also made statements that were quickly disproven: that the Washington Metro system recorded more riders on the day of Trump’s inaugural than when Obama was sworn in for his second term, that Friday was the first time that white floor covering was used on the Washington Mall, amplifying empty spaces, and that it was the first time spectators were required to pass through magnetometers to enter the Mall.”

Spicer’s briefing Saturday was carried live by Fox News Channel and MSNBC, with CNN airing highlights and posting the briefing.

Here’s the briefing, posted by CNN …

5 Comments

  1. Seriously? This is news? You waste time and your breath when in half the world women can’t vote or even hold a job, when kids in this country are starving and when we still don’t know who Kelly’s new co-host is going to be?

  2. Good one Cynic !! 🙂 Yeah this is a JOKE! But then Spicer did the UNTHINKABLE in Monday’s press briefing…wait for it…He called on a reporter from the New York POST first and did NOT follow long standing “tradition” by called on a reporter from the Ass. Press first !! HEADS EXPLODED !! (If only this weren’t actually true).

  3. This is the way a totalitarian government begins, by attacking the free press. It is no coincidence that politicians in this country (both on the left and right) have started attacking the press, accusing them of false stories etc. Just check your history books folks and see how other countries have operated when they went from free nations to dictatorships. The free press is one of the first things that get taken away. Our leaders are playing us for fools, convincing us that the press is attacking them and spreading falsehoods. Don’t fall for it and let your political ideology get in the way. Because in the end, it won’t matter if you are conservative or liberal when they come breaking down your door in the middle of the night to take you and your family away for crimes against the state.

    • Your history is a bit off the mark. The mainstream media has operated as an arm of the Democrat party for at least the last 8 years and in reality the 8 years before that – perhaps longer. What an oppressive government must control to control the population are – the media, healthcare and private ownership of guns. The Obama administration got two of the three! Thank God Hillary isn’t going to get the chance to get the third! Remember the framers of our country made private ownership of guns the second most important freedom so we the people could remove by force corrupt governments. No wonder the Democrats get nervous!

  4. Criticism of the press is not Facism! But it is part of the Constitution. Remember Free Speach? Or does that now only apply to the press?

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