Trump's Casual Remarks on Khashoggi Killing Represents a New Low.
“Incidents take place.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for Donald Trump 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 disregard toward the press, for the media – and for the truth.
The Context
The American leader’s dismissal of the murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the CIA concluded in a recent assessment had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the journalist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)
The American spy agencies were not the only ones to conclude the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the late journalist was drugged and dismembered – was signed off at the highest levels. An investigation led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.
International Response
For a short time, nations were unified in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States enacted penalties and travel restrictions in that year over the killing, although it refrained of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that rehabilitation.
Presidential Comments
Opponents of the regime had strongly criticized the visit. But what was evident at the White House 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 direct contradiction to what his nation’s spy agencies determined four years ago. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen.”
Established Conduct
This marks a fresh and shameful point for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the truth – or for the press. Trump has defamed reporters (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the inquiry about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “false information”), berated them in public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to be shut down.
He has pressured established media out of the White House press pool for refusing to use terminology of his preference, and he has slashed funding for essential public media at domestically and vital independent media abroad.
Broader Implications
All of that has created an atmosphere in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the United States, but one in which their targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just unimportant (“things happen”) but tolerated (“a lot of people didn’t like that person”).
It is no surprise that that year was the most lethal year on file for the press in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this data: a persistent failure to hold those accountable for reporter murders has established a environment without consequences in which journalists’ killers are literally able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is accountable for the killing of over two hundred journalists in the recent period.
Effect on Society
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 rights to know and on our liberty to live freely and safely.
On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its annual International Press Freedom awards. The statement there is the identical as my message for the president: such events may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.