Now I know firsthand how fast political coverage of President Trump leads to bullying and threats.
When Trump tweeted out last week that my political analysis of him was “nasty,” “pathetic” and “wrong,” it led to an instant stream of vile comments via email and on my social media feeds.
And, yes, you’re right. I’m a big boy. I can ignore his bullying, even his followers’ death threats.
But this goes beyond Trump skewering me.
He is engaged in a coordinated attack on every journalist’s ability to hold him accountable, call out his lies and critique his failed policies.
Trump targeted me last week after watching a “Fox News Sunday” discussion of the damage being done by what I called his “brutish” strategy for forcing China to agree to a new trade deal.
I was asked if Democrats did not agree with the president’s decision to confront China for its unfair trade practices, including stealing intellectual property.
I said yes, it is true that Democrats have pressed for a better trade deal with China. But I added that Democrats are disturbed by the president’s heavy-handed use of tariffs. It has led to a damaging trade war that is pushing the world to the edge of economic recession.
And I added that despite Trump’s denials, his use of tariffs is driving up prices for American consumers while fostering a lack of economic stability. As a result, big business is less likely to make capital investments. That hurts the stock market.
That last point, I mentioned, has been made by the Wall Street Journal editorial board, hardly a bastion of liberal economic thought.
Note the absence of any personal attack on Trump. It was a commentary on the president’s policies.
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Allow me to make two points:
First, what happened to me is a chilling example of how this president does not respect the First Amendment rights of any journalist.
He long ago crossed a bright line by labeling journalists the “enemy of the American people.” During the 2016 campaign, his supporters could be heard shouting “Luggenpresse” — the Nazi-popularized German word meaning "Lying Press" — to American reporters.
And in 2017 he tweeted NBC and other broadcast networks are so “distorted and fake that licenses must be challenged and, if appropriate, revoked.”
My second point has to do with his support for online provocateurs who delight in trolling liberals while feeding conservatives a diet of fear and grievance.
In July, he held a “Social Media Summit” at the White House with a guest list that included the man famed for pushing a distorted edit of a video to malign former Vice President Joe Biden as a babbling idiot.
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