Dan Rather said it’s important for the press to act as a “truth squad” when covering any presidency, but called it “absolutely imperative” with the Trump administration.
“I think it’s absolutely imperative,” the veteran journalist said in an interview with CNN’s Brian Stelter on Sunday. “Now more than ever is when the press needs to be a kind of truth squad for this and every other president. It’s perhaps more important with President Trump because there are more untruths to set the record straight.
“But if journalists cower — as many in Congress both some Republican and some Democrats are cowering with the NRA – if journalists cower, then how long can we sing ‘we’re the home of the brave’?”
According to The Washington Post, President Trump made 2,140 false or misleading claims and flip-flops in his first year in office, averaging more than 5.6 per day. Rather said although Trump’s false claims are “past the point of shock,” he thinks that most Americans understand what the press is dealing with.
“I do think that most people get it,” Rather said. “That most people understand that they’re facing on a daily basis from the White House and from the president himself the rough equivalent of you’re facing a fertilizer spreader in a windstorm.”
12 Times Merriam-Webster Dictionary's Twitter Trolled Trump Team - With English (Photos)
Donald Trump's penchant for Twitter rants, adjusted history and occasionally claiming to coin phrases has kept fact-checkers busy for months. But none are quite so expertly cheeky as those running the Twitter account for the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Here are 12 instances of pitch-perfect corrections and insights for the Trump administration, straight from the dictionary.
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12. A quick reminder on "hombre" After Trump again dropped the phrase "bad hombres" during a presidential debate, the dictionary helpfully defined it -- just so everyone was clear he was talking about Mexican immigrants, and not something art-related.
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11. Trump calls Comey a showboat Not everyone always knows what Trump is talking about. Merriam-Webster occasionally checks in on trending Trumpisms, since he tends to favor phrases that aren't exactly in vogue, and spell them out. In this case, after calling former FBI Director James Comey a "showboat," Merriam-Webster could have followed up with the definition of "ironic."
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10. Is he saying "bigly" or "big league?" Merriam-Webster tried to clear up the confusion. He's saying "big league." You're confused because people don't really say that anymore. They did, though, occasionally -- 100 years ago.
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9. "Atrocity, basic" When Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Comey was guilty of "basic atrocities," Merriam-Webster was there to fill people in on what atrocities meant. It also noted people apparently understood the "basic" part, although how the two words fit together remains unclear even now.
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8. White House counsel v. White House council As former Attorney General Sally Yates was preparing to testify about former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn's ties to Russia, Trump headed to Twitter. About Yates, he said she should be asked under oath, "if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to the W.H. council." The tweet was deleted and then corrected, but not before Merriam-Webster's Twitter had a second to get a little upset with the president about botching his word choice.
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7. You're the "vanguard" Merriam-Webster supported the Women's March following Trump's inauguration with a choice word of the day, coupled with a gif of transgender activist Sylvia Rivera.
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6. Here's what "complicit" means White House adviser and Trump daughter Ivanka said in an interview she didn't know what the word "complicit" meant. "SNL" sure did when it dragged Ivanka for her big talk about women's rights and family protections while her father continues to roll them back. For anybody still confused, there's a dictionary on Twitter.
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5. What's the word for when you pay people to clap for you? A Trump visit to the Central Intelligence Agency led to stories the president had cronies at the event to clap for him, while CIA agents remained silent. Did you know there's a word for those clappers? Merriam-Webster did.
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4. Trump did not invent "prime the pump" Trump used the phrase "prime the pump" as a metaphor for tax policy in an interview, and then said he thought he'd invented the phrase. Merriam-Webster narrator voice: He hadn't.
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3. Not the Word of the Day Merriam-Webster has dug up some obscure Trumpisms and verified them for the world. But those words can't be made up. Turns out, Trump's use of "unpresidented" on Twitter was, in fact, unprecedented.
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2. On varieties of "facts" Merriam-Webster Twitter wasn't thrilled with Kellyanne Conway's assertion that things that are false might be considered "alternative facts."
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1. The word you're thinking of is... The perfect English language troll of a president who specifically admitted to sexually assaulting women, on tape, because he was a star and no one stopped him.
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BONUS: "Laughing up one's sleeve" is actually a thing Still going off about the investigation into his campaign and potential collusion with Russia, Trump tweeted the Russians were "laughing up their sleeves" about the situation. Lots of people had no idea what that meant and figured he'd invented it. Not so, Merriam-Webster confirmed. The dictionary might stick it to Trump when he uses English in awkward ways, but it's also fair to him on those occasions he doesn't.
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The dictionary’s Trump administration fact-checking is hilariously shady
Donald Trump's penchant for Twitter rants, adjusted history and occasionally claiming to coin phrases has kept fact-checkers busy for months. But none are quite so expertly cheeky as those running the Twitter account for the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Here are 12 instances of pitch-perfect corrections and insights for the Trump administration, straight from the dictionary.
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