‘I agree with Trump,’ commissioner said in denial of $2,700 to pay for digital access to the Times for 70,000 library-card holders

This article is more than 10 months old

This article is more than 10 months old

A local government in Florida has blocked its library system from getting a digital subscription to the New York Times, dismissing the newspaper as “fake news” and as a challenge to Donald Trump.

At a meeting in Citrus county, a coastal area west of Orlando, several of the city’s five commissioners laughed as they explained why they did not want to approve the library’s request.

“Fake news, I agree with President Trump,” commissioner Scott Carnahan said. “I don’t want the New York Times in this county. I don’t agree with it, I don’t like ’em, it’s fake news and I’m voting no. They can take that money and do something else with it … I support Donald Trump.”

The library requested $2,700 to pay for digital access to the New York Times for the 70,000 library-card holders in Citrus county. The library already pays for a print edition of the New York Times, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

In the late October meeting, the commissioners didn’t deliberate the merits of the library’s request and instead shrugged it off. “Why the heck would we spend money on something like that?” asked one commissioner.

The decision caused a stir in the county, with residents complaining, and sometimes praising, the decision in comments to the county and local newspaper. The feedback prompted one commissioner, Brian Coleman, to say he would reconsider the topic in the near future.

“Do I think I made a mistake? Yes,” Coleman told the Citrus County Chronicle. “Our decision should have been impartial, instead of having it become a personal thing.”

The four other commissioners stood by their decision.

The 24 October meeting occurred the same day the White House said it was planning to order federal agencies to end their subscriptions to the New York Times and the Washington Post because the newspapers have published stories that reflect poorly on the president.

Among these stories were Pulitzer prize-winning investigations including the New York Times story which revealed Trump is not a self-made millionaire because his father provided him with at least $413m and the Washington Post’s discovery of the “grab them by the pussy” video and its revelations that Trump has for decades overstated his charitable giving.