A new poll finds that 29% of the American population agree that the press is the “enemy of the people.” Unsurprisingly, 48% of Republicans view the media as the “enemy of the people.” 68% of Democrats think journalists are working in good faith, where as only 29% of Republicans view the media as being good faith actors. 26% of people surveyed agreed that “the president should have the authority to close news outlets engaged in bad behavior,” and 43% of Republicans thinks that Trump should be able to close those media outlets.
Nearly half of Republicans thinking Trump should have that power is hardly a shock. After all, when Trump holds a rally and calls the media “horrible, horrendous people,” it gets the crowd going wild. Furthermore, this is the crowd that reads the Drudge Report, Breitbart, Infowars, and Fox News.
Trump’s supporters have gone down the path of authoritarianism, and we don’t know when they’ll be coming back to reality. Certainly, not anytime soon. Half of his supporters think that the Freedom of the press enshrined does not matter. It doesn't matter to Trump voters that Trump will call something he has said "fake news."
In essence, the author of ‘Common Sense’, Thomas Paine, his work should be shut if Trump sees fit. I know Thomas Paine has long since been dead, but don’t tell Trump that. Remember, Donald Trump thinks Fredrick Douglas is still alive.
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