To the Editor:
President Donald Trump frequently calls the New York Times a failing news media business with unprofessional reporters who “create anonymous sources and print “fake news.”
So why did the President invite Peter Baker, Michael S. Schmidt and Maggie Haberman, reporters from the NYT, to an almost hour-long “on the record” interview on July 19, so that he could attempt to totally discredit Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, and former FBI Director James Comey, and threaten or bully Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III?
Are we now to assume that the President has changed his mind and believes the NYT is a legitimate news organization for him to use to get his message out to the public?
And, more importantly, if he really wants to vent his displeasure with the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General, why doesn’t he choose to do that in private with them rather than through an independent news organization?
Obviously when dealing with this president, we’ll never know the answers to these questions. He chooses to act upon his own instincts with no “rhyme or reason” or sense as to the best way to address any issue he may have. And he certainly doesn’t ask any of his advisors or family members as I suspect all of them were as surprised by the content of his “on the record” interview as the general public was.
Michael F. Vezeau
Bluffton
