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 former president over the weekend, including a suggestion that Gen. Mark Milley should be executed.

“They are almost all dishonest and corrupt, but Comcast, with its one-side and vicious coverage by NBC NEWS, and in particular MSNBC, often and correctly referred to as MSDNC (Democrat National Committee!), should 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 when I WIN the Presidency of the United States, they and others of the LameStream Media will be thoroughly scrutinized for their knowingly dishonest and corrupt coverage of people, things, and events,” Trump continued.

“Why should NBC, or any other of the corrupt & dishonest media companies, be entitled to use the very valuable Airwaves of the USA, FREE? The Fake News Media is a threat to Democracy, and in reality, the Enemy of the People! The Fake News Media should pay a big price for what they have done to our once great Country!” Trump wrote.

The comments come after Trump made another 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 dealing with China to give them a heads up on the thinking of the President of the United States. In the past, this would have resulted in death. This treasonous action could have led to a war between China and America. This is just the beginning!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump isn’t the only 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 ought to 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 turn off his megaphone if and when he tries to stage another coup attempt 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 able to spread extremist messages on platforms like Truth Social and their own newsletters without much notice from many of the nation’s most important news outlets.

But it seems like the American public more broadly ignores Trump’s ranting at its peril. It is true that many 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, even as he faces 91 felony counts in four different jurisdictions across the country.

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