Category: Attack the Press

Trump Ejects New York Times Journalist

New York Times journalist Trip Gabriel was ejected from a Donal Trump event.

I was late to Donald J. Trump’s unannounced visit to a Pizza Ranch on Friday, his first drop-by of this ubiquitous Iowa chain that is standard stop for candidates, but which Mr. Trump has avoided in favor of boisterous crowds in big halls.

I opened my briefcase and extended my arms for a Secret Service screening, then entered the restaurant crowded with Trump supporters in campaign T-shirts. There was a knot of TV cameras and still photographers, who had been bused to the location.  Mr. Trump was already speaking in a back room.

Barely a minute later, I was ejected from the restaurant by a Trump staff member and a local police officer.

“It’s a private event, you have to go,’’ the officer said, even though the 20 or so other journalists continued to cover the event.

A Trump campaign aide walking beside the officer said I was being excluded on orders from “Chuck and Stephanie,’’ an apparent reference to Mr. Trump’s Iowa state director, Chuck Laudner, and his wife, Stephanie, also a staff member.

In a text message later, Mr. Laudner said, “I didn’t even know you were there.’’

Links

http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/01/15/donald-trump/?_r=0

Protesters Disrupt Donald Trump Speech at NYC Luncheon

Hundreds of activists rallied on Thursday in front of Donald Trump’s hotel in midtown New York City to condemn the Republican 2016 presidential candidate’s call to bar Muslims temporarily from entering the United States.

Chanting “Dump Trump” and “refugees welcome,” the protesters castigated Trump’s comments.

“We are not asking for any favors,” Linda Sarsour of the Arab American Association of New York told the crowd. “We are asking for the basic respect and dignity that we all deserve here in the United States of America.”

Four protesters chanting “Trump is trying to bring us down, targeting people black and brown,” tried to storm a side entrance into the speech at Manhattan’s The Plaza Hotel as security staff pushed them away.

The protesters were affiliated with various Arab-American and Muslim-American groups, as well as groups for racial equality.

One of those protesters, Jorge Gonzalez, fell down a flight of stairs after a hotel security worker pushed him. He said he was uninjured. Another was thrown to the ground in the hotel lobby.

Two reporters from The Associated Press, Jake Pearson and Warren Levinson, were also forcibly removed from the lobby by hotel security. The event, sponsored by the Commonwealth Club, a Pennsylvania Republican group, was closed to the press.

Later in Trump’s speech, about nine other protesters from various advocacy groups stood up to denounce his recent comments to temporarily bar Muslims from entering the U.S., protesters said.

“I’m really frightened by that kind of rhetoric,” said Martha Acklesberg, 69, a member of the group Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, who along with Judith Plaskow, 68, paid to hear Trump speech and then disrupted it in protest.

Trump, said Acklesberg, briefly stopped his speech during their protests and quipped, “when you’re the front runner you get a lot of attention.”

(h/t Associated Press, Reuters)

Reality

Violence has no place in our political process and should be condemned from all sides.

Donald Trump says a lot of divisive and hateful statements, escalation of tensions may only seem natural. However as a protester, engaging in violence only plays into the hands of Donald Trump and his supporters. It gives them justification for their false sense of being victimized and allows them to paint the opposition as “thugs” and side-step our real and valid arguments.

Media

http://bcove.me/hqzadmzh

Donald Trump: Most of The Media Are ‘Absolute Scum’

At a campaign speech in  Mt. Pleasant, S.C., Trump first went after the media, again.

“The mainstream media wants to surrender the constitution. These people back here,” said Trump motioning to the camera crews in the back of the room, “are the worst. They are so dishonest … 70 to 75 percent are absolutely dishonest. Absolute scum. Remember that. Scum. Scum. Totally dishonest people.”

Trump singled out NBC’s Katy Tur, referring to her as “little Katy” and calling her a “third-rate reporter” all because of how she reported on a recent Trump rally.

“What a lie it was. What a lie. What a lie it was from NBC to have written that … A third-rate reporter. Remember that. Third rate.”

Katy Tur responded gracefully on Twitter.

Links

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/262400-trump-media-is-scum

http://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/donald-trump-most-of-the-media-are-absolute-scum/279109

CNN Journalist Threatened While Trying to Film Trump Protester

CNN reporter Noah Gray is threatened to have his press pass revoked if he doesn’t return to the designated press area by Trump official.

After Noah Gray left “the pen” to document a group of protesters who unveiled a sign reading “Migrant lives matter,” Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski turned to campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks and said: “Hey: Tell Noah, get back in the pen or he’s fucking blacklisted,” according to a recording of the incident.

Reality

The press at Trump events are confined to metal barriers which prevent them from asking the candidate questions or reporting on incidents.

Media

Links

https://twitter.com/NoahGrayCNN/status/667182208231211008?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/08/an-insiders-look-at-what-its-like-to-cover-donald-trumps-presidential-campaign/

Megyn Kelly Had ‘Blood Coming Out of Her Wherever’

Donald Trump was so enraged by Fox News moderator Megyn Kelly’s tough questions during the GOP debate, he took to Twitter in the wee hours Friday to rip her for being “not very good or professional.”

He was still angry at Kelly later Friday, delivering bizarre comments on “CNN Tonight” with Don Lemon:

I am very disappointed in Fox News. I think they had an agenda.

I don’t have a lot of respect for Megyn Kelly, she came out, reading her script, trying to be tough and sharp. When you meet her you realize she is not very tough or very sharp. She is zippo.

When asked further about Kelly, who asked the billionaire developer about his previously disparaging comments about women, Trump said:

I just don’t respect her as a journalist. I don’t think she is very good. I think she is highly overrated.

Then went on to say:

You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever.

Trump’s fury was sparked by Kelly’s opening question, asking if calling women “fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals” is behavior befitting a president.

Trump quipped that he had only called Rosie O’Donnell those names, but Kelly said he had bad mouthed other women “well beyond” the comedian.

Trump would go on to lie about his statement after backlash from all sides.

(h/t New York Post, Newsmax)

Reality

Megyn Kelly’s question was valid and Trump acted very unpresidential.

Media

Trump Endorses Tweet Calling Megyn Kelly a ‘Bimbo’

Twitter

Donald Trump retweeted a tweet from a follower commenting how viewers gave “bimbo” Megyn Kelly low marks.

“@timjcam: @megynkelly @FrankLuntz @realDonaldTrump Fox viewers give low marks to bimbo @MegynKelly will consider other programs!”

(h/t The Hill)

Reality

Trump has had an issue with Kelly when she moderated the Republican presidential debate. He accused her of being unfairly harsh on him by asking him valid questions about past sexist and misogynist comments. Fox News stood up for its anchor, calling the attacks on her “sexist verbal assaults.”

Trump Answers Charges of Sexism With More Sexism

Donald Trump, the Republican presidential frontrunner and not exactly friend of women, was expected to say some confrontational things at the first Republican presidential debate.

But when his machismo went up against Megyn Kelly, the Fox News personality, debate moderator and nonstop voice for women’s issues, he didn’t stand a chance. In fact, Kelly spent most of the debate grilling Jeb Bush, Scott Walker and more candidates with surprisingly tough questions over reproductive rights and beyond.

“You’ve called women you don’t like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals,” Kelly began her question, about as directly as you can.

“Only Rosie O’Donnell,” Trump interrupted with a sneer, earning cheers from the crowd.

Kelly wasn’t having it. Any of it.

“For the record, it was way beyond Rosie O’Donnell,” Kelly said – before launching into a laundry list Trump’s most misogynistic moments:

“Your Twitter account has several disparaging comments about women’s looks. You once told a contestant on the Celebrity Apprentice it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees. Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president? And how do you answer the charge from Hillary Clinton – that you are part of the war on women?”

Trump, unchastened, responded with a misdirect: “I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct.”

Then he made a veiled threat at Kelly herself.

“What I say is what I say, and honestly, Megyn, if you don’t like it, I’m sorry. I’ve been very nice to you, although I could probably maybe not be based on the way you’ve treated me, but I wouldn’t do that.”

(h/t The Guardian)

Reality

Donald Trump responded to a question about past sexist and misogynist comments and responded with… more sexist and misogynist comments.

To try to gauge how unpresidental that was, try to imagine your favorite president publicly making comments like:

  • I just spoke with that fat pig Angela Merkel and we’re going to open up trade talks.
  • So I want to thank that dog President Park Geun-hye for our shared commitment to promoting a more peaceful world. I wonder if Huckabee was right and she eats dogs?

Furthermore Trump hid behind political correctness in his attempt to redirect the conversation. See, he’s not an sexist for making those comments, you’re what is wrong with this country for being offended by his sexist comments. There are so many inherit logical flaws with this argument. Just to name a few:

Media

Links

We’ll be tracking this under the Trump-Kelly feud tag.

Trunp Mocks Conservative Critic for Being Paralyzed

Not content with insulting a female reporter’s intelligence and professionalism, Donald Trump apparently mocked a conservative critic for being paralyzed. Trump in an interview with NBC News was asked about columnist Charles Krauthammer, who is paralyzed from the waist down and has called Trump a “rodeo clown.” In response to criticism from Krauthammer and National Review columnist Jonah Goldberg, Trump said the following: “I went out, I made a fortune, a big fortune, a tremendous fortune… bigger than people even understand,” he said before discussing his plan to release financial statements. “Then I get called by a guy that can’t buy a pair of pants, I get called names?”

[The Daily Beast]

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