President Trump’s belittlement of media should disturb every American

Our nation’s colonial beginnings were based on the need to escape despotic tyranny and establish religious freedom. Our Founding Fathers protected these aspirations by creating a government that deliberately distributes power among three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. Each branch being a check and balance on the other two.

Enshrined in the very first amendment of our constitution is the freedom of speech and freedom of the press. A free and independent press must act as a fourth branch of government and as the ultimate check on the power of government in a free society.

This is why recent tweets by President Trump should be disturbing to us all. In response to the courts blocking his immigration ban, Trump tweeted, “The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!” and “Just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril. If something happens blame him and court system. People pouring in. Bad!”

In response to criticisms by the press, Trump tweeted, “The fake news media (failing ‪@nytimes, ‪@NBCNews, ‪@ABC, ‪@CBS, ‪@CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!”

In response, Sen. John McCain said, “The first thing that dictators do is shut down the press.” Sen. Lindsey Graham called a free press and an independent judiciary “the backbone of democracy.” He said, “They’re worth fighting and dying for.”

Every American should be appalled by what President Trump is saying!

This story was originally published February 27, 2017 at 4:16 PM with the headline "President Trump’s belittlement of media should disturb every American."