Over and over, I read or hear people repeating the message that President Donald Trump is a racist, xenophobic, bigoted moron. The examples frequently given to support these opinions are speeches regarding the influx of people across our southern border and the comments made after the Charlottesville protests. During the course of my research into the president’s comments about people illegally coming into the country from Mexico, I found an interesting article in NewStandardPress.com written by Alberto Martinez, a history professor at University of Texas at Austin. The article titled “How the media used Trump to insult Mexicans is a long but worthwhile read that clearly illustrates how what we, including the president, say and what other people hear and report are completely different. Remember the party game where you whisper a secret in someone’s ear, and it gets passed around the room to emerge as something else? Take the time to read Martinez’s article, and you will see how the media is actually responsible for sowing the seeds of racism and bigotry in the minds of the American public.
My second area of inquiry was motivated by Susan Knopf’s column “Justice for all” (published Aug. 16 in the Summit Daily) where she repeats the media message that Trump described white supremacists as “fine people.” In a recent video on the website Accuracy in Media, CNN political analyst Steve Cortez posted “PragerU debunks media claim on Trump response to Charlottesville protest.” Again, see for yourselves the complete statements made by the president, not just a phrase taken out of context and spun by the press to portray him as a supporter of white nationalists.
If anyone is to blame for the increasing hostility and inflammatory rhetoric dominating the political conversation these days, look no further than the free press.