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When Trump and Musk Attack the Press
More from our inbox: Acts of ResistanceShould Joan Didion’s Diary Be Published?Cuts in Arts FundingCompetition in TechCredit…Kenny Holston/The New York TimesTo the Editor: Re “This Is Not a Moment to Settle With Trump,” by Jameel Jaffer (Opinion …
More from our inbox:
- Acts of Resistance
- Should Joan Didion’s Diary Be Published?
- Cuts in Arts Funding
- Competition in Tech
Credit…Kenny Holston/The New York Times
To the Editor:
Re “This Is Not a Moment to Settle With Trump,” by Jameel Jaffer (Opinion guest essay, nytimes.com, Feb. 4):
Mr. Jaffer’s essay powerfully demonstrates that a number of cases of dubious merit commenced by Donald Trump against large media companies seem likely to be settled for multimillion-dollar amounts. That result would greatly disserve the public interest in protecting criticism of public officials, let alone of the most powerful one in the nation. It could all too easily lead to still more such litigation and thus less speech critical of those in power now and in the future.
It is not easy, not inexpensive and surely not without risk for publishers to spend years battling any president, let alone one who has a history of referring to journalists as enemies of the people. But it is not too much for the public to ask of the press that it remain vigilant in its coverage of him and militant in defense of itself.
Floyd Abrams
New York
The writer is the author of “The Soul of the First Amendment.” He successfully represented The New York Times in the 1971 Pentagon Papers case.
To the Editor:
Re “Trump and Musk Attack Journalists by Name in Social Media Posts” (Business, nytimes.com, Feb. 7):
Why are President Trump and Elon Musk calling for journalists to be fired? Why are they purging seasoned professionals from the ranks of the Civil Service?
What they are doing is straight out of the despot’s handbook. In order to seize control of the state, a would-be dictator needs to surround himself with loyal minions who enjoy their positions on his sufferance. In order to keep the public in line he needs to silence his critics. Calling for them to be fired on social media is designed to intimidate all journalists.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk will keep at it unless and until they are stopped by the courts or public opinion.
