If there’s one part of the United States Constitution that Donald Trump and his brainless minions would love to see eliminated, it’s got to be the First Amendment, especially the section that guarantees a free press. To those who worship Trump, the press is a hindrance to his plans for the country, especially his likely plan to install an authoritarian, fascist executive branch that answers to no one.
Proof of this can be found in what happened last week when former Apprentice star and White House communications official Omarosa Manigault directly threatened April Ryan of the American Urban Radio Network.
Some background: Last October, Manigault had sent an email to Ryan asking if she was being paid by the Hillary Clinton campaign. The email also said:
“This story suggests that as a reporter, you are (or were) a paid Clinton surrogate. I pray this is not true! This could be hurtful to your legacy and the integrity of your work.”
As you might expect, Ryan was angered by the email, saying in an interview:
“I’ve been [covering the White House] for 20 years. I plan to be here for the next 20 years. You don’t mess with someone’s livelihood.”
Last Wednesday at the White House, Ryan says Manigault got right in her face
and told her the administration had “dossiers” on her and other reporters. But Ryan remained unbowed:
“I said, ‘You better back up.’ She thought I would be bullied. I won’t be.”
And this is hardly the first time Manigault has threatened those who dare to disagree with Trump. On the night of the 2016 presidential election, referring to comments that had been made by South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, she remarked:
“It’s so great our enemies are making themselves clear so that when we get in to the White House, we know where we stand.
“Let me just tell you, Mr. Trump has a long memory and we’re keeping a list.”
Hey, Omarosa, I got some breaking news for you: You just declared war on the press, and that’s a big mistake. We’ll be here long after you and your Cheeto demigod have been run out of town on a rail. And we can create our own dossiers. Right now we’re working on the one that shows the alleged president is a traitor who betrayed his own country to the Russians.
In other words, Ms. Manigault, this is chess and we are nearing checkmate.
This article was originally published by the same author at LiberalAmerica.org