Bernd Von Jutrczenka/DPA/ZUMA
It’s November 2, and you know what that means: it’s International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. To mark the occasion, the US Department of State tweeted a message of support, calling for “an end to violence against media professionals”:
Our nation's support for #pressfreedom is enshrined in our constitution. In far too many places, journalists are threatened. On International Day to #EndImpunity for Crimes against Journalists, we call for an end to violence against media professionals. https://t.co/N9WMnHeINm pic.twitter.com/lAHY5OjqPA
— Department of State (@StateDept) November 2, 2019
I’ve spent several minutes looking at this and I still don’t see an asterisk.
Trump has, as president, routinely labeled members of the media as “ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE” and his false and bad-faith criticism of the press has encouraged real acts of violence—a die-hard Trump supporter from Florida, Cesar Sayoc, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in August after sending pipe bombs in the mail to CNN and others.
Just this week, an American delegation led by Jared Kushner and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin attended “Davos in the Desert,” a conference hosted by the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. Last year, administration officials cancelled their planned visit to the summit after the Saudi government abducted, murdered, and dismembered Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post journalist based in Virginia. But Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman or other Saudi officials multiple times since, and the Trump administration appears to simply no longer care.
But at least they sent this tweet.
