title:  Ruth Bader Ginsburg Rebukes Trump In Defense Of The Free Press
text: One of the most revered Supreme Court Justices in American history just hammered Donald Trump for attacking the free press without even mentioning his name.Last week, Trump accused the media of treason by calling them the  enemy of the American people. The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2017His tweet drew widespread condemnation, but that didn t stop him from continuing the attack in other tweets in which he repeatedly referred to the media as  fake news  for doing accurately reporting on him and his chaotic administration.Don t believe the main stream (fake news) media.The White House is running VERY WELL. I inherited a MESS and am in the process of fixing it.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 18, 2017Give the public a break   The FAKE NEWS media is trying to say that large scale immigration in Sweden is working out just beautifully. NOT!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2017Trump s assault on the free press is an assault on the Constitution. Trump apparently lied when he swore to defend it during his inauguration ceremony.But Ruth Bader Ginsberg has been defending the Constitution her whole life and she has spent the last 24 years doing so from the Supreme Court bench.During an interview with the BBC, Ginsberg stood up to Trump without mentioning him by name and defended the free press while explaining why the American people need a free press. I read the Washington Post and the New York Times every day, and I think that the reporters are trying to tell the public the truth,  she said, clearly rebuking Trump s claim that the media is lying about him.Then she pointed out that the free press was instrumental in busting the Watergate scandal wide open, which resulted in Nixon s resignation. Think of what the press has done in the United States,  Ginsberg said.  That story might never have come out if we didn t have the free press that we do. Indeed, if Trump had his way the press would act as his own propaganda machine. The press would only tell the American people what he wants them to tell them. America would be like Russia or North Korea, where the press is under the control of dictators.And that s why the free press should be defended more than ever against Trump and his authoritarian agenda.The American people need a free press that will hold Trump accountable, not one that serves as his cheerleading squad.Featured image via Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images