President Donald Trump promised to take a hard look at the current libel laws in place last week at his first cabinet meeting of 2018, calling them, “a sham and a disgrace.” Trump’s latest promise is the most recent example of his seemingly never-ending war against the media.
Libel laws prohibit defamatory, false statements from being published. They keep the media from saying whatever they want about individuals, especially high profile ones like the President of the United States.
For libel to actually occur, a publication must spread defamatory material and frame it as fact. It should also be noted that just because an individual, let’s say… Trump, doesn’t like what is published about himself, does not make it libel. Opinionated pieces often find themselves with much more protection against libel, and published articles that include all factual evidence, but just so happen to place an individual in a negative light, is not automatically libel. Even though it would seem Donald Trump would have it otherwise.
Trump, in his effort to spread the false narrative that long-established media outlets like the New York Times and CNN consistently produce “fake news,” has repeatedly spoken out against these news outlets via Twitter – previously labeling CNN as the “fake news network.” A few of the other Trump Vs the Media highlights include, but are not limited to, Trump gloating after ESPN reporter Jemele Hill was suspended for her tweets about the current president, and calling for Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel to be fired.
Trump’s latest attack, however, seems to be the most preposterous yet. With his comments, Trump has shown that he has very little understanding of free speech and how libel laws have come about. These laws are not some random thoughts jotted down on a bar napkin, nor are they a “sham and a disgrace.” You see, unbeknownst to our Commander In Chief, libel laws are in place after years and years of Supreme Court rulings on cases directly involving these “sham” laws.
For Donald Trump to say that the current laws are a disgrace discredits the men and women who sit on the highest court in the United States. For him to be arrogant enough to believe that he could alter these laws is laughable.
The First Amendment and free speech have long been what America has prided itself on, and for Trump to attack the very core of that belief seems very un-American, and certainly not something the President of our nation should be participating in.
Fortunately, this has the looks of another promise that Trump won’t be able to keep. Trump has been talking about changing libel laws since his campaign started, and has not managed to change a thing. And with the Supreme Court standing in the way of any potential changes, there is very little reason to believe that libel laws will be changing anytime soon.