Nicholas Sandmann, the teenager who has successfully taken media outlets to court for defamation, spoke at the Republican National Convention Tuesday, stressing the need to back President Trump in November, reasoning the president calls out fake news.
Mr. Sandmann was targeted by mainstream media during a 2019 pro-life march in Washington, D.C. for wearing a red Make America Great Again hat as he stood with fellow high school students from Covington High School Student in Kentucky at the national mall.
He did not move from his position when approached by Native American activist, Nathan Phillips, who was beating a drum and staring into Mr. Sandmann’s face.
“My life changed forever in that one moment. The full war machine of the mainstream media revved up into attack mode. They did so without ever researching the full video of the incident; without ever investigating Mr. Philips’ motives; or without ever asking me for my side of the story. And do you know why? Because the truth wasn’t important,” Mr. Sandmann said.
The controversy was painted by reporters as a racist encounter, with Mr. Sandmann being shamed as a white, conservative male.
He’s sued several of the outlets for defamation and recently settled for an undisclosed amount with CNN.
“In November, I believe this country must unite around a president who calls the media out and refuses to allow them to create a narrative instead of reporting the facts. I believe we must join with a president who will challenge the media to return to objective journalism,” he said.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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