Trump Returns to U.S. to Attack Media, Praise Win of Congressman-Elect Cited with Assault of Journalist

Trump’s Lawyers Have Reportedly Cautioned Him to Limit his Posts

Donald Trump returned to the United States late Saturday, and to Twitter early this morning, to both praise the win of Greg Gianforte, the Montana Republican who was cited for assaulting a reporter, and to continue his assault on the free press and media in general.

The President of the United States began his 140 character (or less) message for the American people after his return by discussing domestic news made during his absence. Not the terror attack in Portland, Oregon, but this:

The big win in question refers to Gianforte, who according to Fox News reporters who witnessed it, grabbed a reporter “by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him” after being asked about healthcare.

Although three newspapers rescinded their endorsements of the Congressman-elect prior to the Montana vote the following day, neither Donald Trump nor Mike Pence—who used robo-calls to voice their support of the then-candidate—have done so.

Trump then turned to his first trip overseas, where he evaded news media for nine days, to call it “a great success for America.” Following reports that he was exhausted after the second day, calling his stamina into question, he tweeted that it was “hard work but big results!”

Following that, Trump continued his assault on the media, arguably having had the time to review the countless bombshell reporting that began the moment Air Force One’s wheels left the tarmac for his first trip abroad.

Reports included that Russian officials had discussed how to use Trump’s team to influence him, the block of his Muslim ban being upheld by the courts, that his son-in-law Jared Kushner is under FBI “scrutiny” and even that Kushner told Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak that he wanted to establish a secret, backchannel line of communication with the Kremlin. (To name a few.)

The president hasn’t always distrusted sources, it should be noted:

And of further note, Trump is now including “it is my opinion” in his accusatory, dangerous language. Perhaps because of this report by The New York Times: 

“The president, who has more than 30 million followers on Twitter, has been told by his lawyers to limit his posts. Each one, they argue privately, could be used as evidence in a legal case against him, and the president went through his entire overseas trip without posting a single incendiary message.”

As the Society of Professional Journalists points out, no anonymous source “is more famous and perhaps none was more important than Watergate’s ‘Deep Throat,’ the FBI source who helped The Washington Post unravel the White House cover-up of the Watergate break-in.”

Finally, Trump returned to praising the election of the man who’s been cited with assaulting a journalist, criticizing the media’s coverage of such a “victory.”

But as Congressman Adam Schiff, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee pointed out:

 

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