EJ Montini

opinion columnist



President Donald Trump declared the media (in a tweet, of course) the “enemy of the American People!”

If Trump is correct, then the Founding Fathers got the Bill of Rights all wrong.

That’s not good for me. And it’s even worse for you.

Technically, the president called us the “FAKE NEWS media,” which is a strange and inaccurate description for news operations that print verified facts, like The New York Times. Which also isn’t failing. But that is Trump. Anything he does not like is labeled “fake,” even if it’s provably real.

Still, if he is right about the media, then the founders were wrong.

And if they were wrong about the press, they were wrong about you as well.

After all, when Trump calls the press the “enemy of the people” he is saying the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is fake.

All of these rights are fake, too

The amendment says freedom of the press shall not be infringed. If that is wrong, then so too is your freedom speech, which also is protected by the First Amendment. And so, too, is your freedom of religion. And your freedom to assemble. And your freedom to petition the government.

All fake, under Trump’s definition.

And if the First Amendment is the enemy of the American people, a fake, then the entire Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments) must also be fake.

This would include your apparently fake right to bear arms – Second Amendment.

And your fake protection against unreasonable search or seizure – Fourth Amendment.

And your fake protection against self-incrimination – Fifth Amendment.

And your fake right to legal counsel – Sixth Amendment.

And your fake protection against cruel and unusual punishment – Eighth Amendment.

If Trump is correct about the media, then all of these rights are fake.

Are you ready to submit?

And that would make all of us – journalist or not – enemies of America. Or maybe it means America is fake.

Sen. John McCain was asked about Trump’s statement on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

He at first jokingly told host Chuck Todd, "I hate the press. I hate you especially. But the fact is we need you. We need a free press. We must have it. It's vital."

Then the senator added, "If you want to preserve — I'm very serious now — if you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free and many times adversarial press. And without it, I am afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time. That's how dictators get started."

He's right. In a dictatorship, only the dictator has rights.

So if Trump is correct then we all must immediately shut up, put down our pens, notebooks and cameras; hand over our Bibles; turn in our guns, and agree to be frisked or allow our homes to be searched any administration goon who asks.

We must also willingly submit to torture.

Although, honestly, our protection against cruel and unusual punishment flew out the window when Trump got a Twitter account.