by Stefano Vaccara
NEW YORK (USA) (ITALPRESS) – It is difficult not to grasp the paradox. In the symbolic place of American democracy, Oval Studio, President Donald Trump attacked a journalist to place a legitimate question about Jeffrey Epstein, the former financier who died in 2019 in federal custody and accused of child sexual trafficking. A few centimetres from him was Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi hereditary prince who the CIA considered responsible for the killing and dismemberment of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate of Istanbul.
When the ABC reporter asked the president why he had waited so long before authorizing the full file publication on the Epstein case, Trump replied with irritation: “It’s not the question that bothers me, it’s your attitude. You’re a bad journalist. Someone at ABC has brainwashed you.”.
Then, addressing the employees, he added: “Maybe we should start evaluating if ABC still deserves a license to transmit to the United States…”
Words that immediately raised alarm in the associations for freedom of press: the idea that the President of the United States threatens the revocation of the license of a national television network for a degraded application represents what many analysts call a chilling effect, an intimidating effect that discourages journalists from asking questions of public interest.
The episode arrives at 48 hours from another case already become viral: during a press meeting, Trump interrupted Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey saying: “Quiet, quiet, piggy” ( shut up, piglet).
Today the diplomatic context from which the episode came out is no less controversial: welcoming the White House bin Salman with unusually warm tones, Trump defended the host when a journalist cited Saudi responsibility in the murder of Khashoggi, saying that he knew nothing about it and then “many people didn’t love that man… things happen.”.
If you ask a question to the President of the United States on a case that is discussed throughout America and of which today the Congress will express itself with a vote, is already considered a hostile act, what remains of control journalism towards power?
How much this climate is likely to generate self-censorship, especially on issues that affect potential responsibilities or presidential omissions in the failure to publish lists and acts related to the Epstein crime network?
However, the constitutional principle remains untouched, even if tested: in the United States the press can not only, but must ask for account of power. The risk today is that the weapon, instead of being protected, is intimidated by the highest charge of American democracy.
– photo IPA Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
