As part of his ongoing attacks on the news media, President Trump has apparently decided that federal employees will only watch FOX News.
Thinkprogress reports that an email was sent from the administration to employees at the FDA’s Office of Facilities in Maryland. The email was obtained by journalist Paul Thacker, who shared a screenshot on Twitter.
Screen shot of #FDA email announcing all FoxNews all the time, on FDA TVs. pic.twitter.com/RleGhrO6Ws
— Paul D. Thacker (@thackerpd) May 5, 2017
When you read the text carefully, it seems that all of the agency’s monitors had already been turned to FOX. It looks like at least one employee then complained, which resulted in the explanatory email from the boss.
When contacted by Thinkprogress, an FDA official admitted that the leaked email was legitimate, but denied that there had been a directive about changing the channel.
One has to wonder why federal employees would be forced to watch only one news channel. Given the fact that Donald Trump consistently relies on FOX for reporting that supports his every move, it sure looks like the administration is trying to keep the troops in line.
Congratulations to @foxandfriends on its unbelievable ratings hike.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 4, 2017
It’s also widely known that Trump absolutely abhors CNN, which he constantly calls “fake news.” He has attacked individual CNN reporters, including the fiery Republican Ana Navarro. He has insisted that any reporting that questions his decisions is “fake” and he focuses that ire on CNN.
So it seems that our President is so fragile that he can’t tolerate having any of his employees watching news that he finds too critical. He can’t stand the idea that people at work in the government might here a question about their boss.
If this sounds a little dictatorial to you, you’re not alone. A lot of countries have government run news outlets. Take North Korea, for example.
Or Russia.
Perhaps one could say that FOX is Trump’s very own “Pravda.”
Featured image by Johnny Silvercloud via Flickr. (CC BY-SA 2.0)
