Washington Post Fires Back At Trump’s ‘Repugnant’ Attacks On Its Reporters

A view of the Washington Post's new building on March 3, 2016 in Washington, DC. (Photo credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

The Washington Post defended its reporters on Thursday after President Donald Trump bashed them over the paper’s new report about him and Attorney General Bill Barr.

“The Post fully stands behind its story and its reporters, who are among the finest journalists anywhere,” Marty Baron, the Post’s executive editor, said in a statement. “The president continues to make false accusations against news organizations and individual journalists.”

“Despite his repugnant attempt to intimidate and harass The Post and its staff, we will continue to do the work that democracy demands of a free and independent press,” he continued.

Baron issued the statement an hour after Trump attacked Post reporters Matt Zapotosky, Josh Dawsey and Carol Leonnig, whom the President called “lowlife reporters.”

Trump had flown into a rage after they reported that he had asked Barr to hold a press conference declaring that he had not broken any laws when he asked the Ukrainian president to investigate 2020 rival Joe Biden and right-wing conspiracy about a DNC server.

The President responded to the report on Thursday morning with a series of furious tweets claiming that the “degenerate Washington Post” had “MADE UP” the story.

“The Amazon Washington Post and three lowlife reporters, Matt Zapotosky, Josh Dawsey, and Carol Leonnig, wrote another Fake News story, without any sources (pure fiction), about Bill Barr & myself,” he ranted. “We both deny this story, which they knew before they wrote it. A garbage newspaper!”

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Why won’t they use the word lie instead of “false accusations”?

  2. It sounds like the stupid son-of-a-bitch admitted it all on Twitter.

    Note: That boy just ain’t very bright.

  3. Because it’s easy to prove that a statement is false but much more difficult to prove a person is consciously lying.

  4. This is the way you respond to his scurrilous accusations and third-grade insults.

  5. “We don’t have freedom of the press!” — Trump Tweet 7/11/19

    That is what Trump really wants with his constant attacks of the MSM…
    That is Dictator For Dummies Rule #1 = Attack the Press

    So dear Fourth Estate (excludes Faux News and the rest of the lying ilk),

    • Be careful because the Criminal Orange Impeachiness wants to make you the Enemy of the State and do what MBS and Putin has done to journalists with bone saw and novichok!

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

39 more replies

Participants

Avatar for discobot Avatar for robg Avatar for littlegirlblue Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for epicurus Avatar for cervantes Avatar for sconosciuto Avatar for rollinnolan Avatar for thebigragu Avatar for christianhankel Avatar for lastroth Avatar for twowolves Avatar for pine Avatar for fiftygigs Avatar for thunderclapnewman Avatar for gajake Avatar for caltg Avatar for rickjones Avatar for tiowally Avatar for news247 Avatar for jmacaz Avatar for grack Avatar for chickulese Avatar for gallina

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: