NZ Herald editorial: Let's not overstate Trump's attack

Editorial

Can anyone be surprised anymore at how unpresidential the current United States President can be?

The video clip he posted this week of himself beating up an opponent named CNN in a mock wrestling scene has been taken far too seriously by some of his critics in politics and the media.

Donald Trump's juvenile behaviour is constantly disappointing to everyone who cares about the dignity of his office but it is no more than that. To suggest he is inciting violence against reporters, as CNN did, is being a little too precious.

Likewise an organisation called the Committee to Protect Journalists that said Trump's latest tweet "creates a chilling effect and fosters an environment where further harassment or even physical attack is deemed acceptable".

It went on to say the White House's "charged rhetoric online" makes reporting more dangerous and "emboldens autocratic leaders around the world".

That is about the size of it, Trump's antagonism to news services that do not reflect his view of himself may be encouraging repressive regimes elsewhere but he has done nothing to suggest America's press freedom is at risk.

Like populists everywhere, Trump thrives on media criticism. If it was not forthcoming he would stir it up.

His retweet of the doctored wrestling clip, originated by a racist who should not be on a President's log, followed a comparatively quiet period on the Trump front. Since the beginning of the month he appears to have done little more than post abuse of television hosts on the MSNBC channel who had criticised him.

He was typically nasty and tasteless, claiming the woman had turned up at his Florida estate on New Year's Eve, bleeding from a facelift.

How embarrassing it must be for Americans to have a President like this. Trump defends his tweets as "modern day presidential". Heaven forbid that he lowers the tone of the office permanently.

Leading Republicans appear to be as disgusted as Democrats by some of his postings. No matter how long it lasts his presidency is likely to be an aberration.

But in the meantime, it presents a challenge to good, objective news coverage.

News services such as CNN and the Washington Post are putting him under the same scrutiny they have put every President, which does not endear them to the people who voted for Trump. They prefer his alternative facts to the plain truth and resent media that call him out.

At times, the rigorous scrutiny the US Congress and media apply to a President can seem excessive. The Trump campaign's encounters with Russia's recently departed ambassador to Washington do not sound out of the ordinary on what has been revealed so far, but the national press and congressional committees are right to keep digging.

They need to keep their focus of facts and fairness, ignoring the President's attempts to paint them as partisan.

Fairness means treating his tweets as no more than insights to the character of this President and the extra-ordinary amount of time he seems to spend monitoring what is said about him on TV and social media. That is bad enough but inciting violence is an accusation too far.