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TRUMP the TRUTH Free Expression in the President’S First 100 Days

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TRUMP the TRUTH Free Expression in the President’S First 100 Days TRUMP THE TRUTH Free Expression in the President’s First 100 Days 1 TRUMP THE TRUTH Free Expression in the President’s First 100 Days April 27, 2017 © 2017 PEN America. All rights reserved. PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect open expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. Founded in 1922, PEN America is the largest of more than 100 centers of PEN International. Our strength is in our membership—a nationwide community of more than 4,000 novelists, journalists, poets, essayists, playwrights, editors, publishers, translators, agents, and other writing professionals. For more information, visit pen.org. Cover photograph: President Trump at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Credit Gage Skidmore. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 4 ATTACKS ON THE TRUTH 6 UNDERMINING THE PRESS 8 Antagonizing the Press 8 Attacking Individual Reporters and News Outlets 9 Calling For Reporters to Be Fired 10 Threatening to Change Libel Laws 11 Accusing Media of Lying 11 Restricting Press Access to the State Department 13 Other Trends of Concern 14 INTOLERANCE OF DISSENTING VIEWPOINTS 15 Responses to Protests 15 Response to Internal Criticism 16 GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY 17 Website Data Takedowns 17 Undercutting Congressional Oversight 17 Gag Orders on Federal Agencies 17 OTHER INFRINGEMENTS ON FREE EXPRESSION 18 Free Expression at the Border 18 Free Expression, Artistic Expression, and the Budget 20 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 21 APPENDIX: PRESIDENT TRUMP'S 100 DAYS 22 ENDNOTES 43 INTRODUCTION This report evaluates President Trump’s first 100 days in office from the standpoint of how his words, actions, and It is not normal for the policies have affected free expression, including upholding the truth, respect for the work of the press, freedom of President of the United assembly, government transparency and access to infor- mation, and other areas. States to refuse to offer The information compiled in this report provides a snapshot of the beginning of Trump’s term. PEN’s key even passing respect to the findings include: idea that telling the truth • PEN has catalogued at least 76 instances in which President Trump and/or his Administration have un- matters. It is not normal for dermined the work of the press in his first 100 days in office. These instances include President Trump’s fre- the President to pretend quent attacks on the media as “dishonest” and denigra- tion of news outlets as “fake news,” individual attacks that any news coverage he on reporters or media outlets, and restrictions on press access to the Administration . These instances are dislikes is “fake news” damaging to the principle that an independent press plays an important role in a democracy by holding that has been fabricated elected leaders accountable and providing the public with insight into the workings of government. by reporters who made up • The President’s decision to make statements that are the story as well as demonstrably false, which is documented on a near- daily basis, and to repeat these falsehoods even after their sources. they have been repeatedly debunked, undermines the truth, provides fodder for conspiracy theorists, and threatens the basis of democratic debate, which can- • Proposals to require travelers entering the United not function without a set of commonly agreed-upon States to give border agents access to their personal facts as the basis for further discussion. devices, including passwords to social media accounts, could have a widespread chilling effect on speech and • Statements by the President and some lawmakers would violate travelers’ human rights to privacy and suggesting that protest participants have been paid free expression. or are “professionals,” without evidence to support the claim, delegitimize the constitutionally-protected Much discussion has been devoted to how much damage expression of dissenting viewpoints and may feed into will be done by the President’s disregard for the truth efforts by states to roll back protections on the right and attacks on the press as the “enemy of the people.” to peaceful assembly. Trump is certainly not the first president to ever make a false statement. President Obama, who ran on a promise • The White House’s rejection of expressions of dis- of transparency, also had a contentious relationship with agreement from inside the government risks sending the press. And his Justice Department faced withering a message to government employees that efforts to criticism for pursuing more leaks prosecutions—several debate or challenge policies may put their jobs at risk. of which implicated journalists in ways that raised serious press freedom concerns—under the Espionage Act than • Initial indications that some government transparency all others combined.1 measures are being rolled back—such as ending the There are some early signs that the public is losing con- practice of releasing White House visitor logs and the fidence in Trump’s trustworthiness, and that his efforts removal of previously publicly available data from exec- to undermine the press have not had much impact to utive agency websites—raise concerns that the public’s date—although public trust in the media was already at right to access information about the government’s historic lows, and news institutions have their own work to activities is being infringed upon. do to rebuild that trust. A recent Vanity Fair/60 Minutes 4 PEN AMERICA Women’s March protesters, San Diego, California, January 21, 2017 poll indicated that support for press freedom may be in a free society, and to insist that facts, not propaganda, declining among Republicans, 36% of whom said it “does form the basis of political debate and decision making. The more harm than good.”2 Journalists have, for the most American public is also rising to the challenge, turning out part, responded to his efforts to attack their credibility in the streets to protest policies with which they disagree, and denigrate their work by simply continuing to do their contacting their representatives and packing town hall jobs—and by all accounts, this Administration ’s publicly meetings, and making their voices heard at a level not voiced hostility to the media does not impede them from seen for many years. talking, frequently and in great numbers, to reporters. The These early indications of resistance are heartening. But Administration also deserves some praise for measures they should not obscure the fact that what this Adminis- like making White House briefings more accessible to tration is doing—the relentless lies, the constant efforts to reporters based outside of Washington with the addition chip away at public support for the press and trust in their of “Skype seats” in the briefing room.3 reporting, the dismissal of peaceful public demonstrations Some have even argued that Trump’s public attacks as illegitimate—is not normal. It is not normal for the Pres- on the press are mostly for show and that, in private, he ident of the United States to refuse to offer even passing and his Administration are engaging intensively and often respect to the idea that telling the truth matters. It is not cooperatively with members of the press in an effort to normal for the President of the United States to pretend shape and burnish his image.4 Regardless of whether and that any news coverage he dislikes is “fake news” that has to what degree that is true, the messages and attitudes been fabricated by reporters who made up the story as conveyed publicly by the White House have broad and well as their sources. It is harmful to our democracy and to damaging repercussions. Many policymakers from both our respect for the Constitution, and we all—whatever our BONZO MCGRUE BONZO parties have continued to defend the role of the press political affiliation—must continue to stand up and say so. TRUMP THE TRUTH: FREE EXPRESSION IN THE PRESIDENT’S FIRST 100 DAYS 5 a presidential pronouncement. Presidents are expected ATTACKS ON to try to elevate the quality of political discourse, to re- mind us of our shared principles and values. Trump’s lies THE TRUTH cheapen and degrade our politics and the ideals that un- dergird the nation. A unique challenge posed to free expression by Pres- To illustrate the serious consequences wrought by ident Trump is his propensity to lie. President Trump’s Trump’s untruths, however casually he asserts them, con- tendency to make statements that are verifiably false has sider his lie that millions of people voted illegally in the been well-documented in the press. Both the Toronto 2016 election, a claim he first made on Twitter on Nov. 27.9 Star and The Washington Post keep running tallies of the He has repeated this lie several times, on some occasions President’s falsehoods; as of Apr. 26 the Star had counted also claiming—without any evidence—that those who voted 212 “bald-faced lies, exaggerations and deceptions the illegally were undocumented immigrants.10 The lie appears President of the United States of America has said, so far,” to have originated from Infowars, a conspiracy theory site and The Post had listed 414 “false or misleading claims.”5 run by radio host Alex Jones, who also claims the Sandy He lies so much that it has spurred efforts to create a more Hook school massacre was a hoax, and that both the 1995 precise terminology to refer to the variety of falsehoods Oklahoma City and the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were he utters—“untruths,” “debunked claims,” “claims with no orchestrated by the U.S.
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