President Donald Trump has never been shy about declaring his disdain for mainstream media outlets in this country, many of which he characterizes as dangerous purveyors of “fake news.”
Now that he is back in the White House for a second term, Trump and his administration have launched a website feature known as “Media Offender of the Week” as a means to highlight what the president believes are the most egregious offenders when it comes to journalistic bias, as Fox News reports.
The debut of the “Media Offender of the Week” website section occurred on Friday, and its purpose was made crystal clear by the “Misleading. Biased. Exposed” banner that now sits atop the page.
In addition to the “Offender of the Week,” the website feature also includes an “Offender Hall of Shame,” where outlets deemed to have committed especially heinous or repeated instances of dishonesty in coverage of the president and the administration.
Commenting on the new website feature was Kaelan Dorr of the White House Office of Communications, who took to X on Friday to explain what visitors could expect.
“For those of you still arguing with family over the holidays…We rolled out WH.gov/mediabias today for you. But most importantly to hold the media accountable.”
Dorr’s announcement concluded with an ominous warning to media members bent on distorting the truth, namely, “Misleading? Biased? Prepare to be EXPOSED.”
The first targets of the White House’s ire were revealed on Friday, with CBS News’s Nancy Cordes, Alyssa Vega of the Boston Globe, and Andrew Feinberg of the Independent put in the crosshairs over what the administration says were their inaccurate portrayals of Trump’s response to a controversial video message from six Democrat lawmakers.
In the video at issue, the legislators suggested that members of the intelligence community and the military had the right -- and indeed the duty -- to disregard orders from the Trump administration they believe are illegal.
The White House website contended that in response, Trump simply called for accountability for any member of Congress attempting to “incite insubordination in the United States military,” and he did not, as the above-referenced outlets implied, call for their “execution.”
According to the site, “President Trump has never issued an illegal order. The Fake News knew that, but ran with the story anyway.”
In addition to the “Offender of the Week,” the White House website displayed the initial batch of inductees into its “Offender Hall of Shame,” with the Washington Post, CBS News, CNN, and MSNBC logos prominently featured.
When asked for comment about its presence in the “Hall of Shame,” a representative of the Post stated that the outlet is “proud of its accurate, rigorous journalism.”
With the White House also boldly listing supposed “Repeat Offenders” such as Politico, Axios, the New York Times, ABC News, The Hill, and the Associated Press, it seems certain that the ongoing tensions between Trump and the mainstream press are unlikely to abate anytime soon.
