The Washington Post’s controversial headline for its Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi obituary is the latest example of the mainstream media “destroying its credibility,” according to Donald Trump Jr.
The media is willing to “sell” any news angle that tarnishes President Trump and helps Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, Trump claimed Wednesday on “Hannity.”
“They don’t even pretend to be objective,” he said. “You saw that this weekend when al-Baghdadi … is a mere ‘austere religious scholar’ — not a terrorist, not a rapist, not someone who throws homosexuals off of buildings. He’s an ‘austere religious scholar’.”
JUDGE REOPENS COVINGTON CATHOLIC HIGH STUDENT’S DEFAMATION SUIT AGAINST WASHINGTON POST
The Post later edited its headline to remove the descriptor noted by Trump.
However, Trump added he thought the media was not as kind in its description of Kentucky high school student Nicholas Sandmann, who was criticized by some outlets as he stood wearing a MAGA hat and smiling at Native American activist Nathan Phillips at a demonstration in Washington, D.C., earlier this year.
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“But, Nick Sandmann — one of the innocent 15-year-old kids from Covington Catholic, is a homegrown terrorist?” Trump asked. “The media is destroying its credibility.”
Several news outlets are subjects of a lawsuit by Sandmann on grounds of alleged defamation. Earlier this week a Kentucky federal judge partially reopened Sandmann’s suit against The Post.
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Judge William O. Bertelsman, a Jimmy Carter appointee, issued a ruling specifically concerning reporting by The Post — citing claims by Phillips that Sandmann had “blocked” him and “would not allow him to retreat.”
The judge ruled that an amended complaint submitted by Sandmann’s attorneys “alleged in greater detail than the original complaint that Phillips deliberately lied concerning the events at issue, and that Phillips had “an unsavory reputation which, but for the defendant’s negligence or malice, would have alerted defendant to this fact.”
Thirty other statements reported by The Post that Sandmann alleged to have been defamatory were not covered by the reconsidered ruling, and they remained dismissed.
Fox News’ Gregg Re contributed to this report.
