Trump criticizes Boston Globe in wake of editorials supporting the free press
President Trump criticized The Boston Globe in a tweet Thursday amid a push from hundreds of newspapers around the country condemning the president’s attacks on the news media. The effort was organized by the Globe’s editorial board, which is separate from the paper’s news department.
Trump ridiculed the terms of The New York Times’s sale of the Globe to John Henry, erroneously saying the Globe was sold for $1. Henry purchased the Globe, its affiliated websites and businesses, and the Worcester Telegram and Gazette for $70 million in the 2013 sale.
Trump also miscalculated the sale price of the Globe to the Times. The Times purchased the Globe in 1993 from the Taylor family for $1.1 billion, not $1.3 billion. The Taylors had run the Globe since a year after its 1872 debut as the The Boston Daily Globe.
Trump also accused the Globe of collusion for organizing the effort, in which more than 350 newspapers answered an open call to write editorials in support of the free press.
Trump claimed in another tweet that he wants nothing more than “true freedom of the press.”
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
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
Shortly afterward, the Globe’s opinion section responded in a tweet.
To label the press “the enemy of the people” is as un-American as it is dangerous to the civic compact we have shared for more than two centuries. See how 350+ newsrooms around the country are defending the #FreePress in their own words. https://t.co/cuePNXewog https://t.co/6NE0HqejlC
— Boston Globe Opinion (@GlobeOpinion) August 16, 2018
Earlier Thursday, Trump called the media the “opposition party” in all capital letters in a tweet.
“THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA IS THE OPPOSITION PARTY. It is very bad for our Great Country….BUT WE ARE WINNING!” Trump tweeted.
THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA IS THE OPPOSITION PARTY. It is very bad for our Great Country….BUT WE ARE WINNING!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2018
The editorial writing effort drew support from Senator Elizabeth Warren on Thursday morning, who called the press “one of the cornerstones of our democracy.”
A free and independent press is one of the cornerstones of our democracy. I stand by the @BostonGlobe’s efforts to defend the First Amendment from @realDonaldTrump’s attacks, and to pursue and report the truth. #FreePress https://t.co/45uuZEeowD
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) August 16, 2018
Attorney General Maura Healey also weighed in with words of support.
Journalists are not the enemy of the people. The #FreePress is essential to our democracy and we owe those who report the news our respect and gratitude. https://t.co/2Ue7gawvYS
— AG Maura Healey Archived (@AGHealeyArchive) August 16, 2018
Trump’s attacks on the press have become more heated in recent weeks. At a rally in Pennsylvania earlier this month, he called the media “fake, fake, disgusting news.’’
The Globe’s opinion department began its push last week, calling for each organization to write its own editorial in support of a free press.
‘‘Our words will differ. But at least we can agree that such attacks are alarming,’’ the Globe appeal, which was promoted by newspaper industry groups, said.
As of last Friday, 70 publications had committed to the initiative. By Tuesday, that number had grown to about 200, and the number jumped again to more than 300 Wednesday.
