President Barack Obama holds a press conference in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Dec. 19, 2014. (Official White House Photo By Chuck Kennedy)
Last Friday in a speech, former President Obama said that, while he complained about Fox News, he never tried to shut down the news outlet or call it “an enemy of the people.”
Not so fast, argues Mollie Hemmingway, senior editor at The Federalist. Obama took more punitive actions against the media during his time in office than Donald Trump has as president.
(Obama) blamed many bad things in the country on people watching Fox News. He claimed it was on every bar in the country why Democrats were hurt. He tried to freeze out Fox News in multiple instances. He spied on reporters. He’s one of the worst presidents when it comes to actual actions when it comes to the media.
President Donald Trump speaks against the press in a way that does not live up to what we would hope to hear in terms of freedom of the press. But when it comes to actual actions taken against the media, the Obama administration was bad and the media didn’t care. When Donald Trump lightly criticizes the press, they boycott him, they freak out about the White House press dinner, and it’s that difference in how they reacted to criticisms by President Obama toward press to how they reacted to criticism from Trump is frustrating.
When it comes to actual actions taken and attempts to spy on reporters or go after them, the Obama administration was very bad. And the media didn’t have the same reaction to it that they do to the Trump administration.
Read more here.
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