A Daily Beast Exclusive
The
‘enemy of the people’ talk is working. A plurality of self-identified
Republicans say they want Trump to have the power to take ‘bad’ media
outlets out.
By Sam Stein
Freedom of the press may be guaranteed in the Constitution. But a
plurality of Republicans want to give President Trump the authority to
close down certain news outlets, according to a new public opinion survey conducted by Ipsos and provided exclusively to The Daily Beast.
The
findings present a sobering picture for the fourth estate, with
respondents showing diminished trust in the media and increased support
for punitive measures against its members. They also illustrate the
extent to which Trump’s anti-press drumbeat has shaped public opinion
about the role the media plays in covering his administration.
All
told, 43 percent of self-identified Republicans said that they believed
“the president should have the authority to close news outlets engaged
in bad behavior.” Only 36 percent disagreed with that statement. When
asked if Trump should close down specific outlets, including CNN, The Washington Post, and The New York Times, nearly a quarter of Republicans (23 percent) agreed and 49 percent disagreed.
No comments:
Post a Comment