Elections

Trump To Journalists: Shut Up

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Phillip Stucky Political Reporter
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Republican nominee Donald Trump told followers on Twitter freedom of the press has limits, continuing his allegations that the “dishonest and corrupt” media is fighting to protect Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Trump’s renewed crusade against the media started with a long piece published Saturday in The New York Times called, “Inside the Failing Mission to Tame Donald Trump’s Tongue.” The Times used statements of staffers and advisers to paint a picture of someone who didn’t let media reports go easily.

“He veers from barking at members of his staff to grumbling about how he was better off following his own instincts during the primaries and suggesting he should not have heeded their calls for change,” the story says, adding that the billionaire “broods about his souring relationship with the news media.”

Trump responded Saturday with a series of tweets, criticizing the “failing” New York Times for publishing “fiction.”

Trump later doubled down on his controversial campaign approach, by tweeting that he never told anyone he would change his approach.

Trump continued his statements Sunday at a campaign rally in Connecticut, calling out The New York Times for poor financials.

“I’ll tell you, in particular, lately, we have a newspaper that’s failing badly, it’s losing a lot of money, it’s gonna be out of business very soon: The New York Times,” Trump told reporters. “Maybe what we’ll do, we’ll start taking their press credentials away from them.”

After the campaign rally, Trump went after the press again Sunday afternoon with a new series of tweets. This time, the Republican nominee told followers that freedom of the press should have limits.

Trump also told his supporters that the real battle was with the media, not Clinton.

Trump campaign head Paul Manafort attempted to turn the attention of the press onto the ongoing email scandal involving Clinton. Manafort accused CNN anchor Jake Tapper of only covering negative stories about the Republican nominee.

“As a factual matter, on Monday, my show covered Mr. Trump’s speech, OK? We did. We covered Mr. Trump’s speech. … And we did cover those Hillary Clinton emails,” Tapper said. “These things, just because you say them, they’re not true. We have been covering the substance. We have been covering the things that are bad to Hillary Clinton.”

In late July, Clinton criticized Trump’s thin skin when it came to insults and perceived slights. “A man you can bait with a tweet,” Clinton said during a campaign speech, “is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.”

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