Denouncing the US right to birthright citizenship — guaranteed by the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution — as “ridiculous,” President Donald Trump has falsely claimed that he has the power to subvert that guarantee by presidential fiat – his latest effort to mainstream a noxious lie and xenophobic trope while also furthering what critics call his authoritarian approach to governance by once more exploiting certain members of the White House press corps willing to carry his water for him.
Injected into a White House interview by Axios’ Jonathan Swan, a reporter who prides himself on receiving inside information from anonymous top-level Trump officials, the president appeared surprised (or feigned surprise) that anybody knew his internal desire and plan to end birthright citizenship but said “it will happen” and that “now they’re saying I can do it just with an executive order.”
It’s not clear who Trump is referring to when he says “they,” but it’s reasonable to assume — given that Trump says he didn’t think anybody else knew about it — that it’s the very same staff person or people who told Swan to ask him the question in the first place.
Watch:
But pushing back against the idea that Swan had somehow scooped a new White House proposal, other journalists warned that Swan was playing — wittingly or not — right into Trump’s hands by letting the president and his White House staff put out into the world another piece of red meat for Trump’s racist, xenophobic base.
Guys. Trump can’t terminate amendments via executive order. To respond as if he’s ending birthright citizenship because he told an outlet he is ending birthright citizenship is to allow him to be our assignment editor. It’s an obvious stunt
— Sam Stein (@samstein) October 30, 2018
News organizations shouldn’t tweet quotes that are lies without labeling them lies. Many other countries, including Canada and Mexico, have birthright citizenship. https://t.co/0XGcQxyNix
— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) October 30, 2018
30 countries offer birthright citizenship. https://t.co/J76DwMIige pic.twitter.com/hp5bvqIKr1
— Dan Froomkin’s White House Watch (@froomkin) October 30, 2018
Sam Sacks, reporter and co-founder of the DC Sentinel, minced no words. “Jonathan Swan is an operative of the Trump White House and all his ‘scoops’ are really just messaging that this fascist administration wants disseminated to the public,” Sacks said in a tweeted response to the report. “Much like Fox News, except Axios caters to beltway elites that have long enabled this extremism.”
Axios enabling fascism. Notice how Jonathan Swan does a lot of the heavy lifting for Trump’s racist and unconstitutional proposal by prefacing question with: “Some legal scholars believe you can get rid of birthright citizenship without changing the constitution.”
— DC Sentinel Manager to be talked to (@SamSacks) October 30, 2018
And that wasn’t the end of fellow journalists criticizing both the nature and implication of the reporting. Matthew Yglesia of Vox was among those pointing out how Trump’s false legal claims went unchallenged by both Swan and VandeHei. The legal practice of birthright citizenship, also known by the Latin Jus Soli (or right of the soil), explained Yglesias, “is standard procedure in most Western Hemisphere countries and the rule Trump says nobody follows can be found in such exotic locales as Canada and Mexico.” Also a very clear mistruth, he added, “The President cannot change the Constitution by executive order.”
I think when the President makes a factual misstatement the centerpiece of his argument it’s a bad idea to just uncritically quote him as if what he were saying was true. https://t.co/PZapVhkVQR
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) October 30, 2018
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.