Constitutional law scholar Jonathan Turley criticized national media outlets for reporting what he claims is a misrepresentation of President Trump’s remarks about when Americans can expect to see the U.S. economy reopen after the coronavirus crisis.
“CNN is running a headline that Trump ‘now’ claims Easter was aspirational,” Turley said. “I have criticized Trump statements but he never said Easter was a firm deadline as opposed to his hope. The unrelentingly negative spin on stories makes it difficult for viewers to trust the media.”
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CNN is running a headline that Trump “now” claims Easter was aspirational. I have criticized Trump statements but he never said Easter was a firm deadline as opposed to his hope. The unrelentingly negative spin on stories makes it difficult for viewers to trust the media.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) March 30, 2020
It is unclear which CNN headline Turley was referring to, but a recent fact-check by pundit Chris Cillizza addressed Trump’s statements about a timetable for Trump reopening the economy last week.
“It was just an aspiration,” Trump said Sunday during a speech at the Rose Garden. “We actually will be hitting, potentially, and this was with our meeting before, on Easter … well, that could be a peak.”
Cillizza wrote: “Trump is rewriting history here. At the time he said he hoped church pews would be full for Easter Sunday he never suggested that was an aspirational goal. He just said it.”
Trump’s exact quote from a Fox News town hall last week was: “I’d love to have it open by Easter, OK? I would love to have it open by Easter. I will tell you that right now. It’s such an important day for other reasons, but I’ll make it an important day for this, too.”
Over the weekend, the Washington Post ran a story with the headline: “Inside Trump’s risky push to reopen the country amid the coronavirus crisis.”
“A growing uneasiness about Trump’s motives and leadership hovers over private conversations among governors, according to top Democrats and Republicans privy to the conversations,” the story reads. “Even those who are Trump’s political allies are ‘never quite sure what he’ll do or if they can trust what they hear from Pence,’ according to one adviser to a Republican governor who, like others interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity to comment frankly.”
Trump has accused mainstream media outlets of rooting for the economy to fail, thus hurting his reelection chances this November.
Trump announced Sunday that he was extending the federal guidelines for social distancing, including a ban on gatherings of more than 10 people and nonessential travel, until April 30.
Turley was the legal witness Republicans called upon during Trump’s impeachment hearings in the House. Turley argued that the charges brought against Trump did not amount to a high crime or misdemeanor.
