In the past year, Donald Trump has flipped and flopped on just about every single one of his political stances.
Trump said he would not raise the minimum wage, then he said he would raise it. He said it’s time for the United States to stop getting tied up in overseas conflicts, then he called for sending tens of thousands of troops to the Middle East. He promised to “drain the swamp” and limit how much influence lobbyists and other Beltway insiders have on policy, but a number of such insiders already have roles in Trump’s administration.
There is one thing that Trump has been consistent about, though: he’s always said that the media lies a lot, especially about him, and that it should be easier than it is now to sue the press.
In February, Trump threatened two of the biggest newspapers in the country:
“I’m going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money. We’re going to open up those libel laws. So when The New York Times writes a hit piece which is a total disgrace or when The Washington Post, which is there for other reasons, writes a hit piece, we can sue them and win money instead of having no chance of winning because they’re totally protected.”
The good news is that there’s no way for Trump himself to directly “open up libel laws.” All libel laws are limited by the First Amendment, and Trump can’t change the Constitution.
What Trump could do, though, is appoint officials who share his views to positions where they would have power over how the First Amendment is interpreted.
The New York Times cites Rudy Giuliani as a likely candidate for attorney general in the Trump administration. Based on what he said during his Republican National Convention speech, it seems that Giuliani agrees 100 percent with Trump that the media needs to be reigned in:
“[Trump] is a man with a big heart who loves people, all people, from the top to the bottom, from the middle to the side! I am telling you this because I am sick and tired of the defamation of Donald Trump by the media and by the Clinton campaign.”
Defamation, really? Trump did more to damage his reputation with his own words than any journalist could ever dream of. You don’t have to lie to make Trump look bad. All you have to do is quote the guy verbatim.
Also, Trump has a vacancy on the Supreme Court to fill. When Fox & Friends asked him what kind of judge he planned on appointing, Trump said:
“… Someone as close to Scalia as I could find.”
Investigative reporters have been protected from lawsuits for decades by the 1964 Supreme Court decision in New York Times v. Sullivan. Scalia is known to have hated that decision.
There’s a good chance that Giuliani will be running the Department of Justice and a Scalia clone will be added to the Supreme Court. Here’s to hoping I don’t get sued for this article.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35fjbuM9oGM
Featured Image via screenshot from YouTube video
