President Trump lashed out at the Boston Globe in a series of tweets Thursday morning, reacting to hundreds of newspapers rallying together to denounce his attacks on the media.
More than 300 publications across the country defended the role of the free press in editorials denouncing Trump referring to some in the media as the “enemy of the people” in an effort spearheaded by the Boston Globe.
Trump first took aim at the New York Times’ 2013 sale of the Boston newspaper for $70 million, a massive loss from its $1.1 billion purchase two decades prior. Trump, however, claimed the paper was bought by the New York Times for $1.3 billion dollars and sold for $1.
“Now the Globe is in COLLUSION with other papers on free press. PROVE IT!” the tweet continued.
[Also read: Ann Coulter: Trump is like ‘chemotherapy’ to the media, it’s ‘unpleasant,’ but it ‘kills cancer cells’]
The Boston Globe, which was sold to the the Failing New York Times for 1.3 BILLION DOLLARS (plus 800 million dollars in losses & investment), or 2.1 BILLION DOLLARS, was then sold by the Times for 1 DOLLAR. Now the Globe is in COLLUSION with other papers on free press. PROVE IT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2018
It’s not clear what the president wants to see proven. The White House did immediately respond to a request for clarification from the Washington Examiner.
In a subsequent tweet, Trump said the press is free to write anything it wants, but claimed much of what the media writes is fake news or pushing a political agenda that’s hurting the country. Trump frequently refers to coverage critical of his administration as “fake news.”
There is nothing that I would want more for our Country than true FREEDOM OF THE PRESS. The fact is that the Press is FREE to write and say anything it wants, but much of what it says is FAKE NEWS, pushing a political agenda or just plain trying to hurt people. HONESTY WINS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2018
[Opinion: The press is not the enemy of the people, but it sometimes acts like it]
