Hedrick Smith is a former Washington bureau chief for The New York Times, author of “Who Stole the American Dream?” and executive editor of the website Reclaim the American Dream.
He writes in "So, What Is He Hiding?" in today's New York Times....
"In his short White House tenure, President Trump has already set a record for histrionic tantrums against the media — whether attacking CNN, The Washington Post, The New York Times or MSNBC for revealing his 2005 tax return, as he did last week. He’s actually pursuing a well-worn path of American presidents blaming the press for their problems.
Five decades of reporting have taught me that whenever a president starts screeching about the media, it’s a sure sign he’s in hot water and fearing revelations about some policy disaster, damaging mendacity or political villainy. Even popular presidents with reputations for charming the press occasionally stoop to blaming the press for quagmires of their own making."
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"No matter how much the president seeks to demonize the press, these and other crucial questions will not go away because today’s journalists are just as committed as those who covered past presidents to pursue them to the end."
He writes in "So, What Is He Hiding?" in today's New York Times....
"In his short White House tenure, President Trump has already set a record for histrionic tantrums against the media — whether attacking CNN, The Washington Post, The New York Times or MSNBC for revealing his 2005 tax return, as he did last week. He’s actually pursuing a well-worn path of American presidents blaming the press for their problems.
Five decades of reporting have taught me that whenever a president starts screeching about the media, it’s a sure sign he’s in hot water and fearing revelations about some policy disaster, damaging mendacity or political villainy. Even popular presidents with reputations for charming the press occasionally stoop to blaming the press for quagmires of their own making."
****
"No matter how much the president seeks to demonize the press, these and other crucial questions will not go away because today’s journalists are just as committed as those who covered past presidents to pursue them to the end."
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