The New York Times, attacked by President Donald Trump for reporting about , said on Wednesday that it wouldn’t be deterred by 鈥渇alse and inflammatory language鈥� that distorts the role of a free press.
The president had posted on his Truth Social platform that he believed it was 鈥渟editious, perhaps even treasonous鈥� for the Times and other media outlets to do 鈥淔AKE鈥� reports on .
鈥淭hey are true Enemies of the People, and we should do something about it,鈥� Trump wrote.
The 79-year-old president wouldn’t specify, but the newspaper has posted a handful of reports about his health in recent weeks. In a Nov. 25 story headlined 鈥淪horter Days, Signs of Fatigue: Trump Faces Realities of Aging in Office,鈥� reporters examined Trump’s public and travel schedules to conclude Americans were seeing less of him than they were used to.
A story on Dec. 2, accompanied by a video, said that Trump 鈥渁ppeared to be fighting sleep鈥� during that day.
Trump says he hasn’t slowed down
Columnist Frank Bruni discussed these reports in a Dec. 8 opinion piece headlined 鈥淭rump’s Approval Ratings Have Declined. So Has His Vigor.鈥� Bruni wrote that Americans 鈥渕ight want to brace ourselves for some presidential deja vu. He’s starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.鈥� Biden, who was in his early 80s, for the White House after a disastrous debate with Trump that raised doubts about the then-incumbent’s fitness for office.
Trump, in his post, said he was history’s hardest-working president with a lengthy list of accomplishments. He said he went out of his way to do 鈥渓ong, thorough and very boring鈥� , including three cognitive tests that he 鈥淎CED.鈥�
鈥淭he New York Times, and some others, like to pretend that I am 鈥榮lowing up,鈥� and maybe not as sharp as I once was, or am in poor physical health, knowing that it is not true,鈥� the Republican president said.
The health of American presidents has long been a delicate and sometimes thorny issue between the White House and the press that covers it 鈥� from Grover Cleveland’s secret tumor surgery to Woodrow Wilson’s debilitating stroke to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s polio to Dwight D. Eisenhower’s heart attack. Trump has frequently critiqued the cognitive fitness of his predecessor, Biden.
Trump has fought back against some reports
Trump already has pending against the Times. In the suit, filed in September, Trump targeted four Times journalists about three articles that discussed his finances. He has also been involved in legal cases involving and , among others.
Nicole Taylor, a spokeswoman for The New York Times, said the outlet’s reporting on Trump’s health is heavily sourced, based on interviews with people close to the president and with medical experts.
鈥淎mericans deserve in-depth reporting and regular updates about the health of the leaders they elect,鈥� Taylor said. 鈥淢r. Trump welcomed our reporting on the age and fitness of his predecessors; we’re applying the same journalistic scrutiny to his vitality.鈥�
Taylor said that 鈥渨e won’t be deterred by false and inflammatory language that distorts the role of a free press.鈥�
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David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at and .
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