10/18/2018

GOP/MEDIA/SAUDI ARABIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “President Donald Trump on Thursday [10-18-18] praised Rep. Greg Gianforte’s body slamming a reporter in 2017, saying that anyone who did such a thing was ‘my kind of guy’…Since he was a candidate for the presidency, Trump has complained of ‘fake news,’ harassed individual outlets and journalists on Twitter, and labeled the media as a whole the ‘enemy of the people.’ Trump’s praise of Gianforte’s actions comes as his administration continues to avoid blaming senior officials in Saudi Arabia for the kingdom’s role in the presumed death of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist. John Mulholland, editor of the Guardian US, said in a statement that Trump’s praise of Gianforte runs the risk of inspiring further violence against journalists and called the president’s rhetoric an ‘attack on the First Amendment.’ He added that Trump should apologize for his comments.”

Brent D. Griffiths, “Trump on Gianforte: ‘Any guy who can do a body slam is my kind of guy’,” Politico, October 18, 2018 11:07 pm