President Trump on Thursday accused reporters of ignoring his administration’s work to reform the criminal justice system, saying “they don’t like that image of Trump.”
“I wish we got more media coverage on the whole thing that we’re doing with criminal justice reform. For whatever reason, the media chose not to cover that very strongly,” Trump said during an event at the White House on Thursday.
Ironically, footage of Trump’s complaint was not aired on cable news programs, which did cover his remarks abandoning a threat to close the Mexican border.
“They don’t like that image for me with helping people getting out of prison,” Trump said. “They don’t like that image of Trump, and so they wanted to keep that nice and low-key. They didn’t cover it very much, which is unfair, because they cover other things. Look at the media. Look at all of them. But that one they chose not to cover too much.”
Whereas Trump often trashes unfavorable news coverage as “fake news,” his complaint about media coverage of the First Step Act, which he signed in December, resonates with some reform advocates, who grumbled on Monday about noticeably light media interest in a White House event billed as a “celebration” with Trump and prisoners released by the law.
Legislation rolling back inflexible drug sentences was sought by a bipartisan coalition in Congress for years, including under former President Barack Obama, but initial hopes repeatedly were dashed. Trump used his bully pulpit to overcome last-minute opposition by Republican senators and publicly called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to hold a vote. The law passed 87-12 in the Senate.
Trump said he was satisfied with the reforms, regardless of his perceived lack of credit.
“You know what? I feel very happy about it — criminal justice reform. And because of the great economy, people getting out of prison are really, for the first time … in the history of our country, they’re getting jobs and they’re doing a fantastic job,” he said. “So, perhaps you people can cover that because I think it’s a very important subject. I mean, the important thing is that the employers are so happy with what’s taking place. It’s an incredible thing that’s happening.”
On Monday, Trump announced a Second Step Act that he said would seek $88 million for programs that help former prisoners find work.
The First Step Act bundled various prison policy reforms with sentencing reductions. Future reforms will allow prisoners to “earn” early transfer to halfway houses through anti-recidivism programming.
[Opinion: President Trump, criminal justice reformer]
