President Trump cheers press freedom -- and a press basher
Two weeks after Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared, President Trump said he believes the Saudi-born journalist is dead, that high-level Saudis played a role and the consequences will "have to be very severe" for such "bad, bad stuff."
Then the president flew to Montana where he praised Republican Rep. Greg Gianforte, calling him "my guy" for having "body-slammed" a reporter for The Guardian newspaper.
"By the way, never wrestle him," said Trump, yielding to the temptation to feed more laugh lines to the cheering crowd of his supporters. "Any guy that can do a body slam, he's my kind of -- he's my guy."
Not mine. As a patriotic American, I hate to describe our president's attitude as thuggish, but when the shoe fits....
Gianforte, in case you missed it, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault of Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs during Gianforte's special election campaign in May 2017. Reporter Jacobs tried to ask then-candidate Gianforte a question about the Grand Old Party's health care plan. On an audio recording of the episode, one can hear Gianforte tried to duck the question; he then grabbed Jacobs, throwing him to the ground and punching him.
Trump's "guy" went on to win the special election anyway and was sentenced, after an apology to Jacobs, to community service, anger management training, a six-month deferred sentence and a $300 fine.
And Trump got his laughs. Trump habitually bashes the media as a convenient foil for his speeches. Trump famously points to news cameras and bashes media as purveyors of "fake news." But this new attack reached the new plateau in Montana of actively encouraging a physical attack -- without mentioning the "bad, bad stuff" that happened to Khashoggi.
The Saudi-born Virginia resident was last seen entering Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. Saudi agents were waiting inside, according to information leaked by Turkish officials to reporters. Within minutes, the Turks believe, he was tortured, beheaded and dismembered.
His fingers also were reportedly severed, perhaps as a special -- and sick -- message to other writers who might be considering even the mildest criticism of Saudi Arabia's autocratic rulers.
The Guardian's U.S. editor, John Mulholland, denounced Trump's remarks as "an attack on the First Amendment by someone who has taken an oath to defend it." I second that motion.
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