Trump’s latest attacks on the press exude desperation | Margaret Sullivan

Trump seems to invent ugly new variations on his press-bashing theme almost every day When you hate the mainstream press as much as Donald Trump does, nothing gets in the way of the punishment fantasy. Not court rulings. Not public opinion. Not even the dreadful consequence of less media coverage. And certainly not any awareness of how the first amendment is supposed to function in American democracy. He barred one of his most disfavored media organizations – Politico – from boarding Air Force One, where it was supposed to provide “pool coverage” to the rest of the press corps as Trump traveled to Nebraska for a campaign stop on Monday afternoon.

That move was met with a strong show of solidarity by several media outlets, who decided not to fill the Politico spot. And the White House was defiantly delusional, claiming that Trump will “continue to grant an unprecedented level of access to the press”. This latest chapter came with the usual blast of venom at the mainstream media, though not specifically aimed at Politico. “The New York Times and many other Artificial Media Outlets should be arrested for their dishonesty and disservice to our Country,”