Thread by @ThePlumLineGS

1) Sarah Sanders is flagrantly lying about what happened with @acosta, to justify punishing a reporter for holding Trump accountable.

People seem baffled.

How could the White House lie about something that's on video, where everyone can see what really happened?

*Thread*

@Acosta 2) The answer is that the audacity of the White House's lying is *the whole point* of it.

The lying is an *assertion of power.*

Trump and the White House lie about things that have already been debunked. They lie audaciously, about the most trivial, easily disprovable matters.

@Acosta 3) Once understood as an assertion of power, the more frequent and audacious the lying is, the better.

From my book, “An Uncivil War”:

amazon.com/Uncivil-War-De…

@Acosta 4) This lying as assertion of power, in a way, is directly linked to the underlying act -- the revocation of @acosta’s credentials.

The White House can not only crack down on a journo for holding Trump accountable; it can also lie about why, and you can't do anything about it.

@Acosta 5) This will thrill many of Trump’s supporters, who actually do believe the media is the enemy of the people, or are at least are willing to tell pollsters this, as an expression of solidarity with Trump.

Quinnipiac:

poll.qu.edu/national/relea…

@Acosta 6) Previous presidents have, of course, tangled with the media.

But this concerted, ongoing casting of the press as the enemy of the people is in important respects something new:

amazon.com/Uncivil-War-De…

@Acosta 7) This is why @jayrosen_nyu says the media is embroiled in a “public battle," and the “fight of its life.”

Many have struggled to find the right footing in response.

But we have been in situations like this before. Historically, the media has adapted:

amazon.com/Uncivil-War-De…

@Acosta @jayrosen_nyu 8) Still, this is an exceptionally trying moment. And don’t forget: Trump's attacks have *actual consequences.*

Robert Chain, who allegedly threatened to murder Boston Globe employees, echoed Trump’s “enemy of the people” language while doing so:

washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-lin…

@Acosta @jayrosen_nyu 9) But Trump continues using this language, anyway. At yesterday's presser, he attacked @CNN in precisely these terms.

Trump knows what he is doing may be inciting murderous intent, yet keeps it up, anyway.

Let’s adapt accordingly.

FIN