Trump’s War with the Media

Recently at a rally in Florida Donald Trump uttered these eloquent and immortal words,  “Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln and many of our greatest presidents fought with the media and called them out often times on their lies.” 

That’s slick indeed, Donald Trump is comparing himself to our nation’s greatest leaders.   Our President is following in the footsteps of such giants as Jefferson when he holds the press accountable.  But Trump isn’t doing so in defense of his own honor, not at all.  Our Commander in Chief is doing so to defend America.  The media, as he has said, is not his enemy.  Trump has declared the media to be the enemy of the American people.  Now let’s contrast what Trump has to say with the words of three other world leaders.

Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.

                                                                                                                    -Thomas Jefferson

If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.

                                                                                                                     -George Washington

When one makes a Revolution, one cannot mark time; one must always go forward – or go back. He who now talks about the ‘freedom of the press’ goes backward, and halts our headlong course towards Socialism.

                                                                                                                      -Vladimir Lenin

What I find peculiar is that Donald Trump sounds more like Vladimir Lenin then Thomas Jefferson or George Washington.  How do you think history will remember Mr. Trump?  His presidency is off to an inauspicious start.  Granted his supporters love him and enthusiastically cheer him on.  But to his detractors Trump seems to display the paranoia, the loss of cognitive ability and the disconnect from reality that is associated with the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.