Oversight

Journalism Is Under Direct Threat in the 2020 Election

Going into Trump’s reelection bid, his allies are already preparing a smear campaign against the press — no surprise, given his administration’s severe injustices against press freedoms

President Donald Trump talks to journalists as he departs the White House for on May 20, 2019. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty

Donald Trump has already proven himself to be the worst president for journalists’ rights since at least Richard Nixon. He calls the media “the enemy of the people” virtually every week, he’s prosecuted a record number of journalistic sources, and his Justice Department is even attempting to criminalize the newsgathering process.

And now, in case the president’s blatant contempt for the First Amendment wasn’t already clear, a cabal of his cronies are apparently plotting to target journalists and delegitimize their reporting throughout Trump’s re-election campaign.

All other presidential candidates should be on notice: Protecting the freedom of the press can’t just be a talking point. It should be a major campaign issue with a substantive plan for reform.

The New York Times reported this week that a group of close Trump allies are planning “what they say will be an aggressive operation to discredit news organizations deemed hostile…