Resist the temptation of pointless press battles
Dec 6, 2016, 12:02 PM
As he prepares to assume power, President-elect Trump and those of us who support his agenda of conservative reform should resist the temptation for pointless battles with the press.
Liberal media bias is nothing new—and the most successful conservatives, like Reagan, managed to transcend it. Richard Nixon, on the other hand made a fetish out of fighting with the press and that obsession contributed to his political demise. Constant complaining about media coverage encourages a victim mentality, and makes it less likely that journalists grant better treatment: they won’t want to be seen as backing down.
In primary campaigns with more than a dozen candidates, a contender might gain traction from media bashing, but as the most powerful individual on earth, a sitting president can’t plausibly portray himself as a defenseless victim of some all-powerful journalistic cabal.