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Donald Trump has been using the Department of Justice to pressure CNN into giving him positive media coverage.

This tweet from Trump set off new alarm bells:

Can’t believe @ATT keeps the management after yet another @CNN ratings dive. Nobody watching, NO CREDIBILITY! Maybe they should make changes at AT&T? https://t.co/jdCLuNWEEQ — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2020

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Jonathan Chait wrote in New York Magazine, “The publicly available reporting all fits a pattern that suggests Trump used antitrust enforcement against CNN’s corporate owners as retribution for its coverage. And Trump’s tweets suggest, even as the courts stymied him, that he is determined to keep up economic pressure on CNN. Three years into his presidency, he is not giving up on his Orbán-like ambition to discipline and control independent media.”

Trump tried to block the Time Warner/AT&T merger because he wanted CNN to be sold to Rupert Murdoch so that it could be converted into a pro-Trump propaganda outlet. Trump has been trying to use the DOJ for years to attack CNN. Trump tried to get Time Warner and AT&T to put CNN up for sale as he attempted to block their merger.

The President Of The United States is using his office to attack independent media that is critical of him.

Trump’s tweet shows that he still intends to dismantle independent media.

A president who does not believe in freedom of the press is a threat to democracy.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

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