President Trump’s Media Portrayal as The Enemy of the American People

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The Media: President Trump’s Media Portrayal as “The Enemy of the American People”
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During the presidential campaign trail and his first year in office, the former President Donald Trump’s administration blatantly labeled the mainstream media as “the enemy of the American People,” berated the press daily using inflammatory terms, and blocked news reporters from attending daily briefings at the White House (Jones and Sun 1304). In his February 2017 tweet, the President excoriated contrary coverage of his administration as "fake news," setting off heated debates among defenders of the media institution and the Americans who acknowledge the role of the press in enhancing democracy (Whipple and Shermak 188). These attacks on the media were aimed at undermining coverage of troubles in his administration, including the probe into possible connections between his campaign associates and Russia during the 2016 presidential elections (Jackson). However, President Trump’s inflammatory remarks and a direct attack on the media depicted the government’s role in “enemy construction,” where officials create a public enemy which they can then attempt to attack. Political theorists such as Carl Schmitt have analyzed the concept of “enemy construction” and the motivations of governments in engaging in such a process. According to Schmitt, governments use the created “enemies” to validate compromises of customarily known freedoms (Jones and Su...