It is good to occasionally remind ourselves that the current president has a broad interpretation of what is true and false, and what is fake news or real, and it usually tracks pretty closely to whether he likes what is being reported or not.
Other White House officials have ramped up even more attacks on journalists, saying things such as, “don’t believe the media” to deflect or undercut criticism of decisions that are ripe for questioning, whatever the ultimate answers.
Meanwhile, the arched-eyebrow reporting and “the lying liar is lying again” leads from some quarters aimed toward the White House simply continue to play into President Donald Trump’s hands as he tries to rally his base to the same distrust of the news media that has become a re-election clarion call for both himself and, perhaps more troublingly, the Republican National Committee.
We keep coming back to Bob Woodward’s advice on covering the White House: Stick to the facts.
There are plenty of talking heads to fire back at the White House. Journalists should instead let the truth do their talking for them.
