Trump Strategist Steve Bannon Says Media Should ‘Keep Its Mouth Shut’

“The media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while,” Mr. Bannon said during a telephone call.

“I want you to quote this,” Mr. Bannon added. “The media here is the opposition party. They don’t understand this country. They still do not understand why Donald Trump is the president of the United States.”

The scathing assessment — delivered by one of Mr. Trump’s most trusted and influential advisers, in the first days of his presidency — comes at a moment of high tension between the news media and the administration, with skirmishes over the size of Mr. Trump’s inaugural crowd and the president’s false claims that millions of illegal votes by undocumented immigrants swayed the popular vote against him.

SOURCE

It looks like Donald Trump won't be the only unprecedentedly outspoken member of his administration. That's good news for ATS.

I find Bannon's comments in the article linked above to be startling and troubling. The U.S. government has no place telling the media to "keep its mouth shut" (outside of extraordinary cases). That's further than I can remember any presidential administration in my lifetime going. We're just a few days in to the Trump administration, let's hope it doesn't go any further than this.

The following comes to mind...

Executive Order—Arrest and Imprisonment of Irresponsible Newspaper Reporters and Editors

The way Trump spins things, it seems almost anything could be construed to be of a "treasonable nature."

a reply to: Profusion

If the media is inciting terrorism, it is complicit, therefore earns the focus of our Federal Government.

a reply to: Profusion

The media have been lying their collective butts off for this entire election!

Poll numbers were manufactured. Rape allegations since withdrawn. All sorts of crap.

In a democracy, the people are asked to vote. To vote, one must look at the candidates and choose based on the information presented. If this information is full of lies, then how does one vote?

The MSM must not, can not, lie to the people!

If they do, then they destroy the very fabric of democracy!

It is this simple. And there were lies! Lots of them!

P

a reply to: Profusion

I may be wrong here, but my interpretation of this is a little different than yours. I don't really think he is trying to shut them up as much as he is trying to get them to listen. They are out of touch with a large portion of America, and if they would listen they might learn something. If my interpretation is correct, he would have been more effective if he had worded it differently, because the headlines will be "White House tries to shut up press!". Perhaps he will then come forward and explain it differently. Time will tell I guess.

a reply to: Profusion

The media over the past few weeks reminds me a lot a tactic my kid sister used to use.....

She can antagonize and antagonize and antagonize someone until they reach their boiling point and tell her to "shut the ____ up" (or something like that), at which point, she pretends to be all upset because someone "attacked" her.

Many (most) in the major media have been distorting, using selective editing and at times downright lying through their teeth about Trump, Trump voters, etc..... when they finally get hit back (after CLEARLY starting the now mutual animosity) they cry about being attacked.

Pathetic.

Yes they should shut up with their lies and slandering. They must be honest, but instead have behaved in such a partisan manner criticizing President Trump for everything and suggesting acts of terror and assassination against him and other non-Democratic government officials. Would the below have been aired if Clinton had been elected? Quite doubtful.

www.youtube.com...

Here it is embedded. The above is just from the CNN channel.




It is of course good to be critical of any administration, but the media is going beyond any rational criticizing.

a reply to: Profusion

Considering the media is one of the main reasons the country is so divided. Yes they should shut up and just listen until they have the integrity to be truthful .. But of course that won't happen

We definitely need to create a Department of Truth to bypass the old biased media.

a reply to: Profusion

It probably will get worse in the sense that he will start calling Treason like the Kings did back in the 1400's, not that they will get their heads chopped off but they will probably be jailed due to a new law that he writes and enforces himself.

Then the media will be afraid to report on Trump...even facts and we, the good citizens of USA that voted him in, will be blind sighted by decisions he makes such as going to the doctor and our insurance is not good anymore or we turn on the tube to see his face (a picture he approves of) flashed across the screen with "make america great again" along the bottom instead of our favorite PBS show Anne of Green Gables. Then we get a letter in the mail explaining our mandatory church attendance and a mandate will be added to our taxes if we do not attend and donate, this will all be kept track of with a NEW JOB CREATED BY TRUMP at each church to take roll call.

Then we will wake up to see that our lawns have been taken care of and our bushes trimmed...nice right? Not until we find out that we are now no longer home owners but paying rent (market price) to live in our own homes!

Don has bought all of the land of the USA, in 10 years our children go to Trump University, get our groceries at Trump Grocer, go to church to Trumps church of christ, and have our babies at Trump Medical Center. There is just one search engine...TrumpVista and there are only glowing articles of Trump to be found and websites that he approves of.


(unfortunately some lil trumpets will think this is great)

Yes, the free press should just shut up and report what they are told to.

We should have a state run media so we can get the real truth like in North Korea, China and Venezuela.

The mainstream media is steadily losing their ability to CONTROL public opinion, and it is terrifying them.

Trump being president proves that point.

originally posted by: olaru12
We should have a state run media so we can get the real truth like in North Korea, China and Venezuela.

That is what Trump and his little trumpets want....

I think he means the media should stop being the propaganda arm of the Democratic party and ideological left.



The disconnect from reality is real. These people could be a danger to themselves.

originally posted by: olaru12
We should have a state run media so we can get the real truth like in North Korea, China and Venezuela.

From the media, to your mind, to ATS.

that is an excellent suggestion the media really should shut up and listen for awhile because they have lost touch with mainstreet America and have become obvious shills for the hopeless democrat party.
if the MSM hopes to ever be relevant and credible again they need to stop talking and start listening to what is being said in mainstreet America.

originally posted by: Bramble Iceshimmer
We definitely need to create a Department of Truth to bypass the old biased media.

Who do you trust to tell us the truth?

I'm an adult and entirely capable of telling BS from facts. The Media is a business, capitalism, all they care about is making money.

originally posted by: olaru12

originally posted by: Bramble Iceshimmer
We definitely need to create a Department of Truth to bypass the old biased media.

Who do you trust to tell us the truth?

god and Cheeto god of course, why would Don lie to us?

'Ministry of Truth' will be the sole custodian of news, scientific facts etc. everything else will be alternate facts.

You have to get approval from the same ministry to get even peer-reviewed scientific papers published.

We knew what is coming. Anyone who disagrees with him will be a 'traitor'.'You are either with us or you are the enemy'

How odd.

So no one has ever told anyone to "shut up" before.

originally posted by: Tardacus
that is an excellent suggestion the media really should shut up and listen for awhile because they have lost touch with mainstreet America and have become obvious shills for the hopeless democrat party.
if the MSM hopes to ever be relevant and credible again they need to stop talking and start listening to what is being said in mainstreet America.

Excellent post, Tardacus! But I'm afraid the main stream media does not know who mainsteet America is. All we will hear is rhetoric from Black Lives Matter, Snowflake Liberals, disenfranchised Democrats, every transgender and LGBQ that they can scare up out of the jungle. They wouldn't know someone from the silent majority even if we crawled up their leg and bit them on their collective a$$e$!