Hugh Mackenzie is on a break from Listen Up!
By Sally Barnes
Some would paint Donald J. Trump as some kind of crazy old uncle who shows up at family gatherings to the entertainment of some and the embarrassment of most.
Truth to tell, this U.S. president is causing social, economic and geopolitical havoc that will take decades-if ever-to repair.
Uncle Donald is a very bad person. How else to describe a despot who cuts such a wide swath, leaving misery, fear, desperation, and ruin in his wake while garishly celebrating his own celebrity?
Government funds are being cut for everything from cancer research to kids’ food supplies while his personal wealth and that of family and friends goes through the roof.
Trump’s behaviour deteriorates by the day as his minions round up refugees and carry out his orders for revenge and retribution of imagined injustice against him.
Democratic institutions and constitutional guarantees—from courts to a free press and freedom of speech—are threatened as his behaviour and edicts tear away at public support and respect for the pillars on which society is built.
As someone fortunate to have spent a long and rewarding career as a journalist and political hack, my skin crawls at Trump’s increasing hostility toward the media and political opponents—and especially women who excel in these fields.
Women now hold senior roles in governments and the mass media—from elected office to corporate positions and on the front lines as legislators and foreign correspondents.
They got here through hard work, determination and talent in what was not that long ago a male-dominated field.
Uncle Donald regards his political opponents and the mass media as his personal enemies. Women pols and journos seem to cause him particular torment.
He regards women as weak and reserves his respect and fawning for powerful and wealthy men of stature and influence. The more power they wield, the more he admires and envies them—human rights and wars be damned.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin gets the red carpet, state dinner welcome to the White House, while Ukrainian hero Volodymyr Zelenskyy is subjected to ridicule and criticized for his lack of a shirt and tie. After nearly four years of leading his country’s bloody struggle against the avaricious Russians, he surely deserved some courtesy and respect. He got none.
It was more like, “Here’s your hat, what’s your hurry?”
Any casual observer will notice how Trump surrounds himself with women—most of them young and very blonde and attractive.
Sadly, in my view, most of them are just pawns in the worst cabinet anyone can remember in living history. Uncle Donald rules. They serve.
Trump has a reputation for creating an environment of hostility and intimidation, and as he faces increasing pressure with crumbling public support and grave issues on both the domestic and international front, his outrage grows.
Questions about Trump’s age (79) and health (?) is just one of several issues that set him ablaze.
As the political temperature rises, Trump’s standard of behaviour nose-dives. Where he once shocked news watchers with curses, obscenities, and bad manners, today’s young people observe this role model shouting at women reporters, his finger poised dagger-like in their face, a Congresswoman called a “big, fat slob,” and women journalists told to shut up because they are “ugly, stupid, and incompetent. “
Herein are a few of the recent outbursts by Trump that show a pattern of dealing with women journalists:
Mary Bruce, a reporter for broadcaster ABC, was among those media people present when Trump recently welcomed Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the tarted up Oval Office.
Typically, Trump gushed with praise for the visitor, gloating about a trillion dollar investment and fawning over their cozy friendship and mutual respect.
Several times during the media session Trump grabbed the Prince’s hand to emphasize their close relationship and at one point said he did so “not knowing where that hand has been.” Cue subdued laughter from Trump sycophants in the room and shock among others.
When Mary Bruce raised the issue of the 2018 murder of Saudi/American journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Trump attacked her like a hungry fish after a worm. He said the reporter was “insubordinate” and a “terrible person” who was trying to embarrass his important foreign visitor.
Trump jumped to the defense of his royal guest, saying that the Prince knows nothing about the murder and that when there are disagreements among people, sometimes “things happen.”
The thing that happened was Khashoggi was a strong critic of the Saudi government, he was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and an intelligence report by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) found that the Prince had directed the murder.
End of discussion. Nothing to see here. Woman reporter was shut down and reprimanded. Prince looked relieved as Trump turned to a new questioner more to his liking.
As an aside, the confrontation with Mary Bruce became especially significant when his tirade included that ABC is “a crappy company” of the radical left and “its license should be taken away.” Nice. Broadcasters and other federally regulated businesses should toe the line in Trump’s America—or else.
At another recent media briefing a CBS woman challenged Trump about his statement that the Biden administration had failed to vet the Afghan refugee accused of shooting two young National Guard members in Washington. Trump shouted, calling her a “stupid person.”
Katie Rogers of the New York Times co-authored a story suggesting Trump was starting to show his age by nodding off and cutting back on his work schedule. When she attempted to ask a question, Trump roared that Rogers had been assigned to create negative stories about him and that she is “a third-rate reporter who is ugly both inside and out.”
And there was the recent event aboard Air Force One when Catherine Lucey from Bloomberg attempted to ask Trump about the Epstein files, a particularly touchy issue given Uncle Donald’s once snug relationship with the convicted child sex offender.
“Be quiet, Piggy,” Trump trumpeted.
Press freedom groups have long argued that Trump’s disparaging rhetoric against journalists contributes to the unmistakable pattern of decline in press freedoms by creating an environment of hostility and intimidation.
I would argue that such conduct also contributes to the increasingly toxic environment in politics and public discourse, which contributes to threats against politicians and their families and makes public office less attractive to good candidates.
Online discourse has become a cesspool of distortion, lies, hate, and conspiracy theories—an environment in which Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement thrives like a virus.
This grumpy, obscene old Uncle that U.S. voters have thrust upon the world has made it OK to lie and cheat and bully and employ the instruments of power for personal gain and revenge.
Thankfully, I grew up in an age when the world revered the legendary residents of the White House, the framers of the U.S constitution, the land of opportunity, the value of human rights and the peaceful handover of power.
America isn’t so beautiful anymore.
“The shining city on a hill” has lost its sheen.
Donald J. Trump? Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt or John F. Kennedy he ain’t.
Pity.
Sally Barnes has enjoyed a distinguished career as a writer, journalist, and author. Her work has been recognized in a number of ways, including receiving a Southam Fellowship in Journalism at Massey College at the University of Toronto. A self-confessed political junkie, she has worked in the back rooms for several Ontario premiers. In addition to a number of other community contributions, Sally Barnes served a term as president of the Ontario Council on the Status of Women. She is a former business colleague of Doppler’s publisher, Hugh Mackenzie, and lives in Kingston, Ontario. You can find her online at sallybarnesauthor.com.
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It appears that Sally Barnes doesn’t like Trump’s personality, but then not too many people do. He’s a dysfunctional individual. He’s full of his own self importance and he abuses the power of his office. That’s interesting because in Canada we’ve just come through 9 years of Trudeau – a narcissist, a liar, a person who committed all sorts of ethics violations, and someone who definitely abused the power of his office. Carney is also abusing the power of the office to follow his own agenda. Where is her outrage about that?
Which brings me to my second point. Ms. Barnes also feels that that Trump doesn’t respect journalists, mainly female journalists, but journalists as a whole. And he (Trump) voices his opinions out loud. Which is worse – a person like Trump that openly tries to silence reporters that may criticize him, or the Canadian situation where our Liberal government has taken control of our mainstream media who now simply reinforce the Liberal rhetoric? The Liberal government has already passed censorship laws restricting our freedom of expression and is trying hard to strengthen those laws and make them more restrictive. If they get their way Canadians could be charged for just saying things that oppose the Liberal message. They are even, as we speak, trying to introduce a Bill that will criminalize parts of the bible. All this is happening and most Canadians are not aware. Where is the outrage from our mainstream media and Canadian journalists? We expect our media to protect our rights and hold our government accountable. That’s why they are granted freedom of speech. Those journalists that have succumbed to government control have failed in their responsibility. They have failed Canadians. They do not deserve our respect. So, instead of ranting on, ad nauseum, about the dysfunctional personality of a foreign leader, Ms. Barnes should stop complaining about how journalists are not being respected and start holding the Canadian government accountable. Perhaps then journalists will get the respect they deserve.