Trump's Casual Remarks on Journalist's Murder Signals a New Low.
“Stuff occurs.” A mere phrase. That was enough for the US president to brush off what is probably the most infamous journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for journalists, for journalism – and for the facts.
The Context
The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the murder of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a recent assessment had ordered the kidnap and killing of the journalist in 2018. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)
The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to conclude the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old journalist was drugged and dismembered – was approved at the top echelons. An inquiry led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.
International Response
For a short time, nations were unified in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US imposed penalties and visa bans in that year over the murder, although it stopped short of sanctioning the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the final confirmation of that redemption.
Presidential Comments
Opponents of the government had strongly criticized the visit. But what was on display at the presidential residence was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did the president fete Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then pointed fingers at the victim. The crown prince, Trump claimed when asked, was unaware about the murder – in clear opposition to what his nation’s intelligence services determined previously. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, incidents occur.”
Pattern of Behavior
This represents a fresh and shameful point for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the truth – or for the media. He has smeared journalists (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the media event “false information”), berated them in public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his relationship with the convicted sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against media organizations for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups he doesn’t like to be shut down.
He has pressured veteran news services out of the White House press pool for refusing to use terminology of his preference, and he has slashed funding for vital news services at domestically and crucial free press internationally.
Broader Implications
All of that has fostered an atmosphere in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the US, but one in which their victimization – and indeed murder – becomes not just insignificant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“a lot of people didn’t like that person”).
It is unsurprising that that year was the deadliest year on file for journalists in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been documenting this information: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those responsible for journalist killings has established a culture of impunity in which those who murder reporters are literally able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions.
In no place is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is accountable for the deaths of over two hundred media workers in the past two years.
Societal Impact
The effect on the public is profound. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our freedom to live freely and securely.
On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its annual International Press Freedom awards. The statement there is the same as my one for Trump: such events may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.
