In the run-up to Election Day 2024 , Donald Trump was nearly as eager to attack the free press as he was to attack Kamala Harris. The Republican, for example, referred to journalists as “the enemy of the people,” media outlets as “evil” and news professionals as “scum.”
But the offensive wasn’t just rhetorical. As regular readers might recall, Trump also made clear that he hoped to use governmental power to crack down on journalism he dislikes. It’s why he invested so much time and energy talking about the FCC stripping TV networks of their broadcast licenses for airing coverage he disapproves of. We saw some abuses along these lines during his first term in the White House, and it stood to reason that these tactics would get worse in his second term.
It was against this backdrop that The Associated Press reported:
President Donald Trump bitterly attacked “60 Minutes” shortly after the CBS newsmagazine broadcast stories on Ukraine and Greenland on Sunday, saying the network was out of control and should “pay a big price” for going after him. “Almost every week, 60 Minutes … mentions the name ‘TRUMP’ in a derogatory and defamatory way, but this Weekend’s ‘BROADCAST’ tops them all,” the president said on his Truth Social platform. He called on Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr to impose maximum fines and punishment “for their unlawful and illegal behavior.”
By any fair standard, the president’s online tantrum was bonkers. It began with a missive in which he accused “60 Minutes” of deceptively editing a Harris interview — claims that have been discredited, despite his ongoing civil case against CBS — before publishing a follow-up item that went considerably further.
Over the course of a 243-word rant, the Republican accused the news program of “fraud,” airing “defamatory” segments, “illegally” intervening in the last presidential election, “corruptly changing major answers to Interview questions,” and being a “Political Operative” that has engaged in “unlawful and illegal behavior.”
True to form, the president said CBS “should lose” its broadcast license and “pay a big price,” while calling on the FCC to “impose the maximum fines and punishment.”
To the extent that reality has any bearing on the discussion, there was nothing wrong with the segments in question, one of which covered Trump’s drive to acquire Greenland, while the other focused on the ongoing war in Ukraine. The president might not have liked the episode, but to define journalism that’s unpopular with ruling powers as “unlawful and illegal behavior” is, practically by definition, authoritarian.
But as ugly as the Republican’s offensive against CBS and “60 Minutes” was, it’s even worse when considered as part of a larger pattern.
Indeed, Trump’s latest effort to strip a news organization of its access to the airwaves coincides with his legal fight with the Associated Press over its decision to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of Mexico. The Trump White House has also taken steps to control press pools, ensuring sycophantic questions, while also taking an interest in the press briefing room seating chart. The president also recently delivered remarks at the Justice Department in which he said news coverage on CNN and MSNBC (my employer) “is illegal.” He made nearly identical comments about newspapers he dislikes, adding that their reporting “has to be illegal” and “has to stop.” That came on the heels of Trump repeatedly referring to MSNBC as “a threat to democracy.” Those who take the First Amendment’s press freedoms for granted need to recognize the fact that Trump is eyeing the kind of crackdown on journalism that’s unheard of in any modern democracy.
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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