From the Washington Examiner:
President Trump has “empower[ed]” rogue regimes around the world to imprison journalists on charges of “fake news,” by complaining about fake news from the White House, according to Sen. John McCain.
“[The president] must understand his harmful rhetoric only empowers repressive regimes to jail reporters & silence the truth,” the Arizona Republican tweeted.
McCain issued that rebuke following the release of a report from the Committee to Protect Journalists, which documented a spike in arrests of journalists around the world. Many of those arrests were driven by crackdowns in China, Turkey, and Egypt, but the report faulted Trump for “coz[ying] up to strongmen” in those countries.
“At the same time, President Donald Trump’s nationalistic rhetoric, fixation on Islamic extremism, and insistence on labeling critical media ‘fake news’ serves to reinforce the framework of accusations and legal charges that allow such leaders to preside over the jailing of journalists,” the CPJ report said. “Globally, nearly three-quarters of journalists are jailed on anti-state charges, many under broad and vague terror laws, while the number imprisoned on a charge of ‘false news,’ though modest, rose to a record 21.”
Trump has used the term as a pejorative for media coverage he regards as inaccurate or hostile, most dramatically denouncing CNN during a press conference in January. “You are fake news,” Trump told a reporter after the outlet published a story on a salacious dossier of unverified allegations pertaining to the incoming president.
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