By any fair measure, Donald Trump’s Oval Office event with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, was a disaster. Over the course of roughly 40 minutes, the American president celebrated Saudi Arabia’s horrific human rights record, excused the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and even sided with his guest over the assessment of U.S. intelligence officials.
But in case that wasn’t quite enough, the Republican launched a fresh assault on his own country’s free press.
When Mary Bruce, ABC News’ chief White House correspondent, asked the crown prince about the Khashoggi murder, Trump whined that the reporter’s question might “embarrass” his “guest,” seemingly unaware of the fact that it’s not the job of the press to protect the feelings of foreign authoritarians. He went on to describe the question as “insubordinate,” as though journalists were somehow employees of the Saudi royal family.
The president’s posture took a more hysterical turn, however, when Bruce asked why he didn’t just disclose the Jeffrey Epstein files himself, instead of waiting for Congress to force his hand.
In a tone that could be justifiably characterized as mansplaining, Trump objected to the journalist’s “attitude,” while telling her how “terrible” she is.
And then he kept going. “People are wise to your hoax, and ABC is — your company, your crappy company — is one of the perpetrators,” the Republican ranted. “I’ll tell you something, I’ll tell you something, I think the license should be taken away from ABC, because your news is so fake and so wrong. And we have a great commissioner, a chairman, who should take a look at that.” (He was referring to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr.)
“I think when you’re 97% negative to Trump and then Trump wins in a landslide, that means obviously your news is not credible, and you’re not credible as a reporter,” Trump said, referring to himself in third person. The president wrapped up his harangue by accusing ABC of being “a radical left network,” while chastising Bruce for her “anger” and “meanness.”
I guess she touched a nerve.
To be sure, none of this was especially surprising. We are, after all, talking about a president who’s echoed Joseph Stalin while attacking journalists, who spent much of the late summer and early fall suggesting that “evening shows” are “not allowed” to criticize him and claiming that broadcasters that air evening news programs are doing something “illegal” if the White House disapproves of their coverage. Notably, Trump argued two months ago that networks that give him “only bad publicity” should be at risk of losing their broadcast licenses. For that matter, the president’s latest rant wasn’t his only recent offensive against ABC: When late-night host Jimmy Kimmel returned to the air in September, Trump levied related threats against the network. This is not, in other words, an official with a healthy attitude toward the First Amendment. But let’s not forget that less than a year ago, ABC and its parent company, Disney, agreed to a $16 million settlement with Trump. If executives hoped that would keep the network on the Republican’s good side, those hopes have clearly been dashed.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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