Trump Declares 'Open Season on All Journalists'
With the international
community's attention and horror still centered on the Saudi regime's alleged
torture, murder, and dismemberment of Washington Post journalist
Jamal Khashoggi just over two weeks ago, U.S. President Donald Trump took the
stage at a rally in Montana Thursday night.
He unleashed a lengthy
and "chilling" tirade in support of a GOP
congressman who violently assaulted Guardian reporter
Ben Jacobs last year for the crime of asking questions about healthcare policy.
Detailing his early
and enthusiastic support for Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-Mont.)—who pleaded guilty
to assault after he body-slammed Jacobs the day before last May's special
election and went on to win anyway—Trump said he initially worried that the
Republican's attack on a reporter would hurt his chances in the race.
"We endorsed Greg
very early. But I heard that he body-slammed a reporter.... This was the day of
the election or just before, and I thought 'Oh, this is terrible! He's going to
lose the election,'" Trump said. "And then I said, 'Wait a minute, I
know Montana pretty well, I think it might help him.' And it did."
"Any guy who can
do a body-slam... He's my guy," Trump declared, doing his best impression
of a wrestling move to raucous applause and cheers from his Montana audience.
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about."
"In the aftermath of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, it runs the risk of inviting other assaults on journalists both here and across the world where they often face far greater threats. We hope decent people will denounce these comments."—John Mulholland, Guardian editor
Trump's rant in support of Gianforte—which came as the president continues to act as a megaphone for the Saudi regime's implausible claim that it was not involved in the Khashoggi assassination—was met with fierce denunciations from journalists and press freedom advocates, who slammed the president's comments as yet another incitement to violence against the media.
"The president of
the United States tonight applauded the assault on an American journalist who
works for the Guardian. To celebrate an attack on a journalist who
was simply doing his job is an attack on the first amendment by someone who has
taken an oath to defend it," the Guardian's U.S. editor John
Mulholland said in a statement.
“In the aftermath of
the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, it runs the risk of inviting other assaults on
journalists both here and across the world where they often face far greater
threats," Mulholland added.
"We hope decent
people will denounce these comments and that the president will see fit to
apologize for them."
Journalists from the
U.S. and around the world were quick to express solidarity with the Guardian and
condemned Trump's comments as "shocking" and those of a
"psychopath."
"So this week the
president has helped cover up the murder of one journalist and is now praising
the assault of another journalist," noted MSNBC's Chris Hayes
following Trump's remarks.
"Trump praises
the violent assault of a reporter. His supporters cheer... Horrific,"
Andrew Stroehlein, European media director for Human Rights Watch, wrote
following the president's rally. "He's declared open season on all
journalists."
