Conservative commentator S.E. Cupp blasted Fox News host Ainsley Earhardt after she defended President Trump’s attacks against the press on Thursday.
Cupp, appearing on CNN, said it was “disturbing” that Earhardt suggested on “Fox & Friends” that the press should report stories the way Trump wants them reported.
{mosads}”It is so disturbing. And I know Ainsley, she’s a lovely person. She’s a kind person. I think she means well,” Cupp told CNN. “But the idea that it is our job to report things the way anyone in a position of power — but especially the president — wants them, is a total dissembling of the job the media.”
“We are here to be a check on power. We are not his press shop. We are not his spokesperson. We are not his marketing team,” Cupp continued. “We in the press are here to fact check and to be a check on power. It is not our job to be liked. It is especially not our job to be liked by the president.”
Earhardt claimed Thursday that Trump attacks the press because the media reports what he says in a way that is “completely different” from what he intends. She went on to suggest that news organizations should report stories “the way that [Trump wants] it reported.”
Trump has routinely attacked the media during his presidency, labeling news organizations he does not like as “the enemy of the people” and stories that are critical of him and his administration as “fake news.”
Bipartisan critics have lambasted Trump’s attacks on the media, saying that it is “wrong” for the president to label the media as an “enemy.”