Things got absolutely wild on Air Force One on Friday, May 15, with President Donald Trump going nuclear on a woke New York Times journalist, reporter David Sanger, who pressed him on the military operation against the Islamic Republic of Iran. President Trump accused Sanger of treason for misrepresenting the state of the operation.
Sanger, for his part, has reported that though the United States and Israel managed to take out the ayatollah of Iran, half of Iran’s missiles and launchers have survived the strikes and the nuclear stockpile remains untouched. Further, he has claimed that America and Iran don’t appear to be close to reaching an agreement.
President Trump not only disputed all of those characterizations, but argued that they are such misrepresentations of what is going on and what has been accomplished by the strikes and the blockade that they constitute “treason”, something that he let Sanger know to his face while aboard the presidential jet.
Sounding off on the reporter and reeling off some of the accomplishments so far made by the strikes and operations, the president said, “You should be ashamed of it. I actually think it’s treason. When you write like they’re doing well militarily, and they have no navy, no air force, no anti-anything, by the way, we knocked out 85% of their manufacturing for the missiles!”
Continuing, the president argued that the military achievements have been notable and immense, and the real problem here is that types like Sanger aren’t willing to give America credit for what it has accomplished. He said, “We had a total military victory, but the fake news, guys like you write incorrectly, you’re a fake guy, guys like you!”
Still not done, he went on to argue that what Sanger writes for the New York Times is treasonous, and that both he and CNN generally are “the worst”. The president said, “I actually think it’s sort of treasonous what you write, but you in the New York Times and CNN, I would say, are the worst.“
Concluding, the president threw a business-focused haymaker the NYT’s way, noting that Americans are unsubscribing from it and tuning out because its reporting is so bad. He said, “Then I read the New York Times, and they act like they’re doing well. And everybody knows, that’s why you’re subscribers are way down. You know, the Times subscribers are way down because seeing saying that.”
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Watch him here:
The New York Times responded in a ridiculously self-important statement that was posted to X. It said, “Reporting isn’t treason. It’s foundational to a free press and the work that America’s founders wrote the First Amendment to protect. That includes making clear when the claims of government officials and the reality of their actions don’t line up.”
Continuing, it insisted, “Our reporters, in this case, have been working carefully to provide the public with the fullest possible understanding of the reality of the military action in Iran. We will continue this important, constitutionally protected work.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video