“Bravo Donald!” – press freedom predators congratulate Trump

Since becoming US president, Donald Trump has not let one week go by without attacking and denigrating journalists. He constantly accuses them of producing “fake news” and doing a poor job. In his latest Twitter offensive, he has announced that awards will be presented to the “most corrupt and biased” media.

In response to his constant attacks on the media and to this grotesque announcement, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is launching a social network campaign called “Bravo Donald!”

Produced by the BETC ad agency, the campaign shows such press freedom predators as Chinese President Xi Jinping, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro congratulating the US president for his efforts and his creativity in trampling on media freedom and villifying journalists.

“With humor, this campaign points out that the US president’s actions are unworthy of the country that adopted the First Amendment,” RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said. “Donald Trump’s behavior is gradually pushing the United States towards an anti-journalist climate worthy of the worst countries for press freedom, although he swore to protect and defend this freedom at his inauguration. By attacking journalists in this way and grotesquely treating the media as children, Donald Trump poses a major threat to US democracy.”

After falling two places last year, the United States is currently ranked 43rd out of 180 countries in RSF's World Press Freedom Index. The press freedom violations that occurred in 2017 will be taken into account in the 2018 index, in which the United States will almost certainly fall even further.