Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on the campaign trail. Photo from Facebook
Steve Russell, a member of the Cherokee Nation, explains why he will continue to criticize Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as he discloses recent campaign contributions to Democrat Bernie Sanders:
I now have enough income from writing that I can with a straight face call it a third career. Bias is also an issue for reporters. My attitude toward my biases is not to deny them but to wear them on my sleeve. It's up to my readers to decide if my writing is reliable. To sum up, I may have the appearance of bias against Donald Trump because I used to be a Democrat and because he has publicly insulted persons who practice all three of my careers: judge, teacher, and journalist. In addition, he has insulted two parts of my identity--veteran and American Indian---and he has insulted many close friends and political supporters when he went after Mexican-Americans. When he insults women, he insults my wife and daughters. I count eight reasons why I cannot appear to be fair to Donald Trump. I’ve only set out insults personal to me or mine. His mocking of a disabled reporter offended me greatly, but there’s no end to the insults he has delivered beyond punch in the gut personal. The New York Times has tried to keep a running total, currently titled, “The 224 People, Places and Things Donald Trump Has Insulted on Twitter.” I have no plans to refrain from writing about him. As one media critic said of Trump’s ability to dominate the news cycle, the media have been “covering him like the weather when they should cover him like the Iran hostage crisis.” No matter the method, we can’t ignore him when he takes the democratic mechanisms that have governed this republic hostage. The constitutional order is threatened by Trump as it has not been threatened since Andrew Jackson.Get the Story:
Steve Russell: Andrew Jackson Trump and Media Bias (Indian Country Today 6/19)
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