New York Times Journalist Fires Back At Trump: ‘Reporting Is Not Treason’
New York Times reporter David Sanger defended himself and fired again at President donald trump Friday evening after being called “treasonous” on Air Force One.
“Look, reporting is not treason, right? And you’ve been on the receiving end of these probably more than I have, and we all know what this is about,” Sanger informed CNN host Kaitlan Collins Friday evening. “It is an effort to intimidate news organizations into not doing the reporting, but reporting is the fundamental First Amendment responsibility that we have to go about.”
The president blasted Sanger throughout a face-to-face two-minute rant after he pressed Trump on why the US was persevering with its assault on Iran regardless of not getting “the political changes” he requested for.
“We’ve had a total victory except like people like you who don’t write the truth. … I actually think it’s sort of treasonous what you write, but you and The New York Times and CNN I would say are the worst,” Trump berated the reporter.
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“I actually think it’s treason when you write like, they’re doing well militarily, and they have no navy, no air force, no anti-anything,” the president continued.
Trump went on to assault the Times, claiming its “subscribers are way down.”
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“The president seems to conflate news he doesn’t want to hear with treason, and that’s not the case,” Sanger stated. “Look, he himself ran for office arguing that the United States made all the biggest mistakes that it could make in Afghanistan and Iraq. And he knew that from enterprising reporting that was appearing in the New York Times on CNN and elsewhere.”
CNN’s Jake Tapper who condemned Trump’s assault, said that “reporting these facts isn’t treason and it’s deranged for any president to say such a thing, and potentially dangerous for the reporters he’s accusing of treason.”
The New York Times addressed Trump’s feedback in an announcement echoing Sanger’s measured responses.
“Reporting isn’t treason. It’s foundational to a free press and the work that America’s founders wrote the First Amendment to protect. That includes making clear when the claims of government officials and the reality of their actions don’t line up,” Charlie Stadtlander, a spokesperson for the Times, wrote.
“Our reporters, in this case, have been working carefully to provide the public with the fullest possible understanding of the reality of the military action in Iran,” Stadtlander continued. “We will continue this important, constitutionally protected work.”
