Center’s Hull on Trump’s war against the media: It’s messy – but it works

Original Swedish version of this article by Albin Aghamn available at SVT

Donald Trump’s war on the media has been going on since his presidential campaign started and continues during his presidency. Why does he wage it? Because it works, says Christopher C. Hull, an executive at a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C.

Donald Trump has encountered countless tussles with the media. It had already started during the presidential campaign, and continues during his first term as president. He has even claimed that he is going to award prizes to the media he considers most unreasonable. [Trump followed up on this claim by awarding the prizes just hours after this article was published. -ed.]

“What he’s doing is not nice, but it works. He has capitalized on the perception of many Americans that the media leans Left,” said Christopher C. Hull, Ph.D., of the conservative think tank Center for Security Policy.

“The media does it too”

“I admit he tweets things that are questionable, but the media does it too, says Dr. Hull.

For example, three journalists left CNN, one of Donald Trump’s biggest enemies, this summer after an article incorrectly accused one of the President’s employees of co-operating with a Russian investment fund.

“It would be good if Donald Trump as well as journalists had the good of the country in mind. He is building on the hostile attitude people have of the media, but the war of information has been going on for as long as America has been a republic,” said Dr. Hull.

Big impact

Erik Åsard, a professor of American studies at Uppsala University, has been following Donald Trump for a long time.

“Even as a businessman, he had a hatred for the media, said Åsard. “You can understand that he, as a spokeswoman, does not like being held accountable, but you cannot defend the things he stands for.

“He has minimal understanding of the Constitution. But he is successful with his Twitter messages and makes a very big impact with them.”