Fighting back.
President Donald Trump has always had a combative relationship with the press – and honestly, for good reason. The media loves the ratings that they get from covering Trump, but they hate his policies and go out of their way to attack him in a way that they never do for Democrats. Of course it’s the same for any Republican, but because Trump is such a polarizing figure, the press particularly seems to hate him, and at this point they’re not even really trying to hide their bias against Trump in their coverage.
The president has already had his first showdown with the media of his second administration when he blocked the Associated Press from covering several events in the Oval Office and on Air Force One because they refuse to change the way they refer to the “Gulf of Mexico” and call it the Gulf of America, as Trump renamed it in an executive order on his first day in office.
Both Google and Apple have already updated the Gulf’s name on their maps, but apparently the AP refuses to acknowledge the name change and continues to use the name “Gulf of Mexico” in their reporting.
In addressing the ban of the AP from events, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the White House was simply holding the news outlet accountable for misreporting the facts:
“I was very upfront in my briefing on day one that if we feel that there are lies being pushed by outlets in this room, we are going to hold those lies accountable. And it is a fact that the body of water off the coast of Louisiana is called the Gulf of America, and I’m not sure why news outlets don’t want to call it that, but that is what it is.
The Secretary of Interior has made that the official designation in the Geographical Identification Name Server, and Apple has recognized that, Google has recognized that, pretty much every other outlet in this room has recognized that body of water as the Gulf of America. And it’s very important to this administration that we get that right, not only for people here at home but also for the rest of the world.”
Well over the weekend, Trump wasn’t the only member of the administration ruffling feathers. Vice President JD Vance was in Germany over the weekend to speak at the Munich Security Conference, where he delivered a blistering speech criticizing Europe for their attacks on free speech, like the United Kingdom arresting a man for praying outside of an abortion clinic or Sweden arresting an anti-Islam activist for burning Korans in public.
The comments came two days before 60 Minutes ran a stunning interview with German prosecutors who defended the country’s practice of conducting pre-dawn raids on German citizens for posting content that the country deems “insulting” on social media.
Kinda proves his point, right?
Well naturally the vice president’s speech ruffled some feathers, not only in Europe but back here at home from Democrats and the media who saw it as an attack on some of our closest allies (and are apparently fine with restricting free speech). And one of those critics was Mehdi Hasan, an independent journalist who founded his own news organization, Zeteo News.
Hasan posted on Twitter calling out the Trump administration, and Vance in particular, for calling for free speech in Europe while banning the AP from events over their use of the name “Gulf of America,” which the liberal journalist apparently sees as a greater threat to free speech than arresting people for social media posts.
Hey @JDVance, I know you’re busy lecturing the Europeans on free speech, but have you seen this? https://t.co/jVoWE0Z5q1
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) February 17, 2025
Hasan’s post apparently caught the vice president’s attention – and he didn’t hold back in his response to the so-called “journalist.”
“Yes dummy. I think there’s a difference between not giving a reporter a seat in the WH press briefing room and jailing people for dissenting views. The latter is a threat to free speech, the former is not. Hope that helps!”
Yes dummy. I think there’s a difference between not giving a reporter a seat in the WH press briefing room and jailing people for dissenting views. The latter is a threat to free speech, the former is not. Hope that helps!
— JD Vance (@JDVance) February 17, 2025
Pretty clear that there’s a big difference between the Trump administration and the previous occupants of the White House.
And of course Hasan’s point is ridiculous. There are way more media outlets than there are spots in the Oval Office or Air Force One. I’m pretty sure banning one outlet isn’t going to keep people from reporting on the government, or keep other outlets from asking questions of the administration. And let’s be honest: It’s not like Trump and his team have ever backed down from an interview or shied away from press coverage.
But hey, apparently keeping the AP out of the Oval Office is worse than locking people up for social media posts…at least according to one “journalist.”
Vance was right. This guy’s a dummy.
The post Vice President JD Vance Calls Journalist A “Dummy” After Criticism Over Trump Administration Banning The AP From The Oval Office first appeared on Whiskey Riff.