Triggered journalists from across the nation are bemoaning the treatment members of the press are receiving at Trump campaign rallies from the Trump supporters the media routinely misrepresents as ignorant racists, fascist Nazis, or disenchanted working whites.
With increasing regularity, these journalist snowflakes are “reporting” their victimization at the hands Trump supporters who chant mean things like, “CNN sucks” and call them names like “presstitutes.”
For members of the media elite, the occasional taunts and jeers signal a dangerous threat to the free press. During an interview with Kellyanne Conway on Tuesday, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer breathlessly asked Trump’s campaign manager to ask Trump to stop calling out the press at his rallies because he is scared “there could be an ugly incident” between Trump supporters and the “hardworking young journalists” who cover his rallies.
A quick review of media stories over the last two weeks reveals more than a dozen articles in major publications with the same “journalists victimized by Trump supporters at rallies” narrative. Trump supporters endure long waits, messy parking, and often obstructed view seating to rally for their candidate. The press, on the other hand, is given their own entrance, sectioned off seating, and protection from event security and the Secret Service.
After an exhaustive search, this Breitbart reporter could find exactly zero incidences of members of the media being physically attacked or assaulted at Trump rallies. None of this has stopped the misleading characterization of Trump supporters creating a “menacing” and “dangerous” environment for these special snowflakes.
The narrative sprung up briefly in August when NBC‘s Katy Tur wrote a long piece in Marie Claire in which she gives her account of her confrontational relationship with Trump and the backlash his “insults” on her reporting created with his supporters. Here is a small piece from her “no-holds-barred” account:
I was six months into covering the Trump campaign for MSNBC and NBC News, and there I was, in the belly of a World War II battleship, in a press pen made out of bicycle racks, surrounded by thousands of whipped-up Trump supporters.
…
Trump decided to go further in Mount Pleasant, pointing his finger squarely at me and launching a personal attack as millions of Americans watched at home.
“What a lie it was,” Trump said, referring to the claim that he had left the stage abruptly. “What a lie. Katy Tur. What a lie it was. Third. Rate. Reporter. Remember that.” The crowd’s boos ricocheted off the iron hull of the USS Yorktown.
Just a few days after the Tur piece was published, two other NBC press employees — Frank Thorp and Ali Vitali — tweeted out pictures and videos of Trump supporters showing insufficient deference to the press. It was so very traumatic that it inspired several stories, including this one in Real Clear Politics.
Trump supporter swings by the press pen in Kissimmee, FL to let us know we're number one!! pic.twitter.com/WzUPBal7nW
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) August 12, 2016
A slice of what it's like in the pen post Trump rally. Keep in mind, we sit in a campaign mandated fish bowl. pic.twitter.com/xCf2G1uGrq
— Ali Vitali (@alivitali) August 14, 2016
On October 13th, the victimhood narrative kicked off in earnest when the “Committee to Protect Journalists” issued a statement claiming that Donald Trump is a “threat to press freedom.” The same day Politico’s Ben Schreckinger ran an article titled, “Trump crowds rain hate on the press” and CNN‘s Jim Acosta claimed to have found a crudely written sign with a swastika and “media” written on it.
The next day, on October 14th, the narrative of violent Trump supporters scaring the press was being pushed across the media. The Huffington Post‘s Ed Mazza wrote a piece titled, “Frenzied Donald Trump Supporters Are Turning On The Media — And It’s Getting Scary.” The Washington Post‘s Paul Farhi wrote, “The press always got booed at Trump rallies. But now the aggression is menacing.” Ed Kilgore at New York Magazine titled his piece, “Trump’s Dangerous Game of ‘Beat the Press’.” Tierney Mcafee‘s article in People Magazine was titled, “Press Corps with Trump Now Needs Police Escort as Crowd Shouts ‘Whores!’.” Even the Wall St. Journal got in on the action when Reid Epstein wrote, “Trump Rally-Goers Dismiss His Vulgarities, Offer Their Own for Clinton, News Media.” Just to name a few.
The stories have continued until the time of this writing with similar articles in the New York Times, Media Matters, Washington Post (again), AlterNet, and on and on.
Every special snowflake reporter with a Twitter account wanted in on the sweet victimhood action.
McKay Coppins from Buzzfeed tweeted a seven-second video of someone “heckling reporters.”
https://twitter.com/mckaycoppins/status/786608266264580098
Jose DelReal from the Washington Post tweeted that the “vitriol towards the media” was as bad as he has ever seen with the “boos and cursing and middle fingers.” Poor little guy,
The vitriol toward the media here is as bad as I've ever seen it. Boos and cursing and middle fingers as soon as traveling press walked in. pic.twitter.com/n3pV9ngNEo
— Jose A. Del Real (@jdelreal) October 14, 2016
Eric Boehlert from Media Matters didn’t get his own video so he compiled several from other reporters for his own breathless article.
what Trump is doing to press at rallies is dangerous and a disgrace. but he telegraphed it all year; media wouldn't fight back
— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) October 18, 2016
Frank Thorp tweeted video of people chanting “CNN sucks.” The horror!
Here are Trump supporters screaming at the media pen after Trump criticized the media at his rally in Newtown, PA: pic.twitter.com/mevNXtK05w
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) October 21, 2016
Rosie Gray, another Buzzfeed reporter, found a new angle to keep the narrative going when an attendee used the term Lugenpresse, a German term for “lying press.”
Friendly interaction outside the press pen. "Lugenpresse!" pic.twitter.com/MWUZynJ8jx
— Rosie Gray (@RosieGray) October 23, 2016
You know who else used the German term Lugenpresse? The Nazi’s. As CNN‘s Jake Tapper pointed out.
Lügenpresse, "lying press," literally a Nazi-era term. You know, Nazis — the evil forces the US and allies defeated https://t.co/ozE4trOAMB https://t.co/AbUOUlwuq6
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 23, 2016
CNN‘s Jim Acosta wanted everyone to know just how hard it is to do a live shot when people are yelling at you.
What it's like to do a live shot with Trump supporters yelling at you. pic.twitter.com/tLltoUPXsF
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) October 22, 2016
After weeks of nonstop reporting about the “menacing” and “scary” treatment of reporters at the hands of Trump supporters, one of the most regular victims, Sopan Deb from CBS, got a nice note from a do-gooding White Knight.
A note that we just received from someone attending the Trump rally here in Tallahassee: pic.twitter.com/2NqvWSONFU
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) October 25, 2016
At a rally in Naples Florida recently, Trump supporters heckled the press for refusing to stand for the national anthem and pledge of allegiance.
Dustin Stockton is a political reporter for Breitbart News, a community liaison for Gun Owners of America, and a political strategist. Follow him on Twitter @DustinStockton or Facebook.
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