Trump Accuses Media Of ‘Treason’ In Escalation Of Social Media Threats

Donald Trump has said he’ll investigate news outlets like NBC News or MSNBC if he regains the White House, in 2024. He made this statement in a 2022 post on Truth Social. Trump’s comments come on the heels of extremely inflammatory rhetoric shared by the previous president over the weekend, including a suggestion that Gen. Mark Milley must be executed.

“They’re just about all dishonest and corrupt, but Comcast, with its one-side and cruel coverage by NBC NEWS, and specifically MSNBC, often and accurately known as MSDNC (Democrat National Committee!), must be investigated for its ‘Country Threatening Treason.’” Trump wrote Sunday on Truth Social.

Trump’s extremely lengthy post continued by insisting NBC is making a political contribution to Democrats. Trump also informed his fans what he planned to do with so-called liberal news outlets if he won the presidency in 2020.

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“I say up front, openly, and proudly, that after I WIN the Presidency of the USA, they and others of the LameStream Media shall be thoroughly scrutinized for his or her knowingly dishonest and corrupt coverage of individuals, things, and events,” Trump continued.

“Why should NBC, or every other of the corrupt & dishonest media corporations, be entitled to make use of the very beneficial Airwaves of the USA, FREE? The Fake News Media is a threat to Democracy, and in point of fact, the Enemy of the People! The Fake News Media should pay an enormous price for what they’ve done to our once great Country!” Trump wrote.

The comments come after Trump made one other social media post over the weekend suggesting Gen. Milley should’ve been put to death for not following his orders.

“This guy turned out to be a Woke train wreck who, if the Fake News reporting is correct, was actually coping with China to offer them a heads up on the considering of the President of the USA. Prior to now, this could have resulted in death. This treasonous motion could have led to a war between China and America. That is only the start!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump isn’t the just one who’s escalated his rhetoric in recent days. Mediaite reports that Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona wrote this weekend in his newsletter, that Mark Milley should be hanged as a treason. I’ve previously written about how Trump hasn’t rejoined social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter precisely because he doesn’t want anyone to show off his megaphone if and when he tries to stage one other coup attempt just like the one witnessed on January 6, 2021.

Previously, elected officials and former presidents calling for the deaths of their fellow Americans would’ve been front page news. But Trump and Gosar are in a position to spread extremist messages on platforms like Truth Social and their very own newsletters without much notice from most of the nation’s most significant news outlets.

Nevertheless it looks like the American public more broadly ignores Trump’s ranting at its peril. It’s true that most of the Washington PostA poll released overnight shows that 52% of respondents prefer President Trump to only 42% who favor Joe Biden. And while many pollsters warn it’s an outlier, it shows that Trump’s loss in 2024 isn’t a certainty, at the same time as he faces 91 felony counts in 4 different jurisdictions across the country.

In response to the polls, Trump is a serious contender for re-election. And if he’s accusing people of treason and talking about executing people within the media, he must be taken seriously.