The Senate unanimously passed a resolution to affirm freedom of the press and push back against President Donald Trump’s frequent characterization of the media as the “enemy of the people” on Thursday.
“We can’t let statements by the president declaring that the press is the enemy of the people go unchallenged,” Hawaii Democrat Brian Schatz, who introduced the resolution, said during a floor speech before the bill’s passage.
The resolution also emphasized the role of the press in serving “to inform the electorate, uncover the truth, act as a check on the inherent power of the government, further discourse and debate, and otherwise advance the most basic and cherished democratic norms and freedoms of the United States.”
Schatz’s resolution came on the same day that about 350 newspapers in the United States organized to publish editorials on Thursday condemning Trump’s attacks on reporters and media outlets.
Trump took notice of the effort, writing on Twitter that the press is free to write what it wants, “but much of what it says is FAKE NEWS, pushing a political agenda or just plain trying to hurt people.”
