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Trump and the Media

President Donald Trump and the press are engaged in an ongoing battle, which shows no signs of ceasing if recent incidents are any indication. The majority of politicians would have found a way to put aside their differences and politely deal with this situation. Former U.S. Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush dealt with the same press with little to no problems but as we know, Trump is not a normal “politician.”

I could fill a book with all the times Trump and the press have clashed, but I will save it for another time. Let’s talk about what happened at a press conference this Wednesday.

The conference was held following the midterm election, and Trump used this time to belittle CNN Correspondent Jim Acosta. Acosta asked the President about his choice of words in classifying the caravan of migrants from Central America coming to the U.S. as an “invasion.”

You should let me run the country,” Trump said. “You run CNN.” Acosta kept trying to get another question out, but it was too late.

“CNN should be ashamed of itself having you working for them,” Trump said. “You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn’t be working for CNN. You’re a very rude person. The way you treat Sarah Huckabee is horrible. The way you treat other people is horrible.”

Read it one more time. This is the leader of the free world, not some elementary school bully on the playground, but the President of the United State of America.

Have all the morals from the past 2,000 years gone down the drain? The presidency is an office idolized by children of all ages, and this is what the youth of today have to look up to—a bully.

It gets worse, too. After Trump finished with Acosta, NBC’s Pete Alexander approached the microphone. Alexander started to defend Acosta and sure enough, Trump went off again. “I’m not a big fan of yours, either, to be honest,” Trump said. Acosta decided to stand back up and pick up where he left off, but was met with more of the same response.

“You report fake news, which CNN does a lot,” Trump said. “You are the enemy of the people.”

I honestly believe Trump just digs himself in a hole anytime he opens his mouth. For example, in the same press conference, PBS’s Yamiche Alcindor asked him what should have been a simple question. She asked about the time when Trump had referred to himself as a “nationalist” on the campaign trail.

It seemed some people had misinterpreted the statement and related the label to white nationalist. Now, he could have easily just defended himself and explained what he really meant but sadly, that is not the Trump way. Instead, Trump’s response was, “That’s such a racist question.” Not once, not twice, but three times he referred to her question as “racist.”

If asking such a simple question as this is racist, then what should we call the way the justice system treats African-Americans? What is keeping Muslims from entering the country? What is separating families and deporting people by the thousands when all they were doing was seeking a better life?

I believe Trump needs to go back to school and learn how to deal with confrontation. It seems like the moment the press disagrees with him on something, he goes into full defense mode, and his version of defense is lashing out. He belittles and tries to make people look as ignorant as possible. It is an elementary-school tactic.

This is scary. As Americans, we are blessed with freedom of the press, and there are plenty of countries where if you disagree with those in power, you are dead.

It is our civic duty to keep the press alive. Without the press, we are no different than any other country. We need to be scared when we have a President who belittles those who speak out against him.

The Talon welcomes all viewpoints. Realizing there may be an opposing view to today’s editorial, the Talon invites any Oklahoma Christian student to write an opposing editorial that is signed and less than 800 words. For more information on editorial guidelines or to submit an opinion idea, please email Hannah Brewster, the Talon’s opinion editor.

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