Sen. Ben Sasse posted a video on Twitter Sunday night defending the First Amendment, as well as critiquing the tendency of President Trump and others to antagonize the news media.
It’s not helpful to call the press the enemy of the American people. Here’s why. #1a pic.twitter.com/dhiVY5ndqZ
— Senator Ben Sasse (@SenSasse) December 31, 2017
Using audio taken from the Nebraska Republican’s interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” back in July 2017, the video focuses on how journalism production and consumption has and will continue to evolve in the digital age.
“Barriers to entry to new journalism are going to go down, down, down, and so it is going to be possible in the next three, five, and 10 years for people to surround themselves only with echo chambers and silos of people that only believe what they already believe,” the first-term senator says in the video. “That’s a recipe for a new kind of tribalism, and America wont’ work if we do that.”
Mr. Sasse concludes the video with a remark that can be read as a direct criticism of Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly dismissed news organizations as “fake news” and “very dishonest.”
“We need to come together as a people and reteach our kids what the First Amendment is about,” Mr. Sasse urges. “It’s not helpful to call the press the enemy of the American people.”
This would not be the first time Mr. Sasse has denounced Mr. Trump’s attitude towards the press. On June 29 of last year, Mr. Sasse tweeted that Mr. Trump’s attacks against “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski were not “normal” and “beneath the dignity of your office.”
• Josh Luckenbaugh can be reached at jluckenbaugh@washingtontimes.com.
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