With tweets and with a “survey” I just received online from the Trump campaign, it’s clear that Trump is escalating his war on the traditional media. He has to do it because the media is reporting that he bungled the handling of the coronavirus. Media organizations have been risking the lives of their reporters and other personnel to present the graphic truth of what is happening and how the Trump administration resisted doing anything for weeks. If ever traditional media organizations have demonstrated their credibility and truth-telling power, they are now certainly doing it. The indictment is devastating–Americans are dying because Trump did not understand the nature of the danger and politicized it. And Fox News aided and abetted in the crime by giving credence to Rush Limbaugh’s assertion that it was all a “hoax” aimed at destroying the Trump presidency.
Ironically, Trump is taking a page from the Chinese government’s playbook and is seeking to portray himself as a wartime president rather than a bumbling, incompetent narcissist worried only about himself. Now is the time for all Americans to support the news organizations they trust. Our very ability to sort out fact from fiction is at risk. If Trump succeeds in destroying the media’s credibility, our democracy is even greater danger than it was before the virus hit.
