#AskROF: Donald Trump’s love affair with the media has come to an end, and the media isn’t too happy about the way he’s treating them. Will they finally stand up and do something about it? Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins answers this.
Transcription of the above video:
We have a Twitter question from Mr. E. Q., who asks, “Trump has banned some media outlets from his rallies. Why is this not in violation of the freedom of press and why is no one suing?” Freedom of the press means that the press is legally required to be able to say what they have to say, to report the facts without fear of reprisal. When you talk about him not letting the media in, I don’t know that that would fall under a First Amendment protection, because he is essentially saying this person cannot enter a private establishment. I don’t agree with it, but I don’t think that that falls under a First Amendment protection. A First Amendment violation would be that if they weren’t allowed in and they reported on it and then Donald Trump sued them for it. That would be clear First Amendment violation, and this situation gets a little more murky.
Here’s the thing, the media should not want to go to Donald Trump’s events. He has been nothing but hostile towards them, and one of the best ways to stick it to him, to show him who really controls things, is for the media to just say screw it, we’re not going to go. What would happen to Donald Trump’s pathetic little ego if the next time he goes and does a rally or whatever no cameras were there, if no press was there, if nobody reported on it? That’s the kind of thing that we need to happen. Of course we can’t, because every time he gets in front of a camera he says something stupid that makes his poll numbers fall even further, but I still think the most powerful weapon that the media has is to not talk about something.
If you have a question for us, send it to us on Twitter using the hashtag askROF. Follow us on Twitter @ringoffireradio, and you can follow me @farronbalanced.
