AP Photo/Mike Stewart
President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday called for his party to “KILL” the Press Act, a bipartisan bill to protect journalists that has already passed the GOP-led House.
Trump shared to his Truth Social platform a PBS NewsHour interview from Monday titled, “Political divisions threaten bill to protect press freedom,” and added, “REPUBLICANS MUST KILL THIS BILL!”
In the interview Trump shared, the CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Jodie Ginsberg, made the case for the bill. “It’s really urgent that we pass this federal shield law,” Ginsberg said, adding:
So, some states have these federal protections, which essentially means that journalists’ information, journalists’ sources can’t be subpoenaed. Information from whistle-blowers can’t be subpoenaed. It’s really important that we have that federal shield law to protect journalists at the federal level.
We know that Trump is interested in going after whistle-blowers, people who leak. And it’s absolutely essential that they are protected and that journalists’ sources are protected and that journalists are allowed to do their job.
The Seattle Times published an editorial on Monday also calling for the Senate to immediately pass the bill, writing, “Dubbed ‘Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act,’ the broadly supported bill would ensure federal protection for journalists. It would prevent authorities from abusing subpoena powers and protect reporters from being forced to reveal their sources.”
Trump has long been a fierce critic of the press, calling it everything from the “enemy of the people” to “fake news.” The president-elect has also been a long critic of anonymous sources and has increased the vitriol in recent years in his rhetoric on the topic. The Guardian noted last week “since leaving office in 2021 he has used more violent language. At a 2022 rally in Texas, Trump suggested that the threat of rape in prison could compel a journalist to reveal their sources. ‘When this person realizes that he is going to be the bride of another prisoner shortly, he will say, ‘I’d very much like to tell you exactly who that was,’’ Trump said.”
