Wednesday on CNN’s “The Lead,” host Jake Tapper said President Donald Trump’s attacks on the media were becoming “increasingly ugly.”
Tapper said, “CNN was first to report that one early DIA or Defense Intelligence Agency assessment suggested that the U.S. military strikes on Iran this weekend did not completely destroy the core components of Iran’s nuclear program.”
He continued,”Today, President Trump and his administration are going after the messengers in an increasingly ugly way. They’re recalling they’re calling journalists fake news for true stories. They’re calling for an excellent CNN reporter, Natasha Bertrand, to be fired, which is preposterous. And to which CNN’s statement today reads, ‘We stand 100% behind Natasha Bertrand journalism,’ as they should. The Trump administration is also accusing any news media who reports on this intel assessment as not being patriotic.”
He added, “No one is questioning whether this was a heroic and valiant effort on behalf of the United States. The key questions for the American people and the world are simply about the degree of success of the operation and the current state of Iran’s nuclear weapons program and what the intelligence, not the politicians, what the intelligence reveals. Our obligation as journalists is not to praise President Trump or protect his feelings, or disparage him, or to praise him for that matter. Our obligation is to report facts.”
Tapper concluded, “Demanding facts and answers instead of just taking a president’s word for it, history has taught us that the most pro-service member action we can take is to ask questions of our leaders, especially in times of war. That for journalists is the height of patriotism.”
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