After being asked twice on election night about Donald Trump’s characterization of journalists as the “enemy of the people,” Tennessee’s Sen. Marsha Blackburn distanced herself from Trump's stance on press freedom.
Hours before the race was called for the 45th and soon-to-be 47th president, Blackburn celebrated her own electoral victory at the Hilton Franklin Cool Springs. Following her onstage remarks, she held a press conference. The Williamson Scene asked Blackburn about her concerns for potential post-election violence following Trump's pledge of “retribution” and his statements about punishing and jailing his political opponents, classifying them as “the enemy from within.”
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“I find it so interesting that single lines and comments and things get taken out of context, and then they are used — I think what you're going to see is a push to bring people together,” Blackburn told reporters. “As I said in my remarks tonight, I want every Tennessean to work with me to make certain that we protect our freedoms and to make certain that we continue to make this state the best place to live, to work, and to raise a family.”
“Do you believe that the press are the enemy of the people?” the Williamson Scene asked Blackburn.
“I definitely take your questions and always look forward to having those interactions,” she responded, as her press secretary quickly ended the press conference.
“Just to clarify, we're not [the enemy of the people]?” the Williamson Scene followed up.
“No, you're not,” Blackburn said, laughing as she left the room.
Press freedom organizations have been sounding the alarm about the growing threat to journalists, and the growing public tolerance of targeting the press.
“The fundamental right to a free press, guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, must not be impaired,” the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a Nov. 6 statement. “Legal persecution, imprisonment, physical violence, and even killings have sadly become familiar threats for journalists across the world. They must not now also become commonplace in the United States, where threats of violence and online harassment have in recent years become routine.”
In 2023, Franklin's controversial mayoral election gave rise to attempted intimidation of members of the press and progressive activists, as well as the vandalism of the Williamson Herald's office. That months-long saga also saw aggression toward NewsChannel 5 investigative reporter Phil Williams at a Franklin election event. The intimidation tactics also targeted citizens who were critical of then-alderman and now failed mayoral candidate, Gabrielle Hanson, who associated with neo-Nazis throughout her campaign. Hanson also threatened to have a Williamson Scene reporter arrested for asking for a comment at Franklin's City Hall.
In March, Vanderbilt University police arrested a Nashville Scene reporter who was covering a student protest on campus.
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The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has recorded dozens of reported instances of assault against members of the press throughout 2024. Journalists were among those physically attacked by the mob of Trump-supporting insurrectionists who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to prevent the lawful certification of the 2020 election. Blackburn initially stated that she and fellow U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty would not vote to certify the election results before reversing course after the attack, which she at one point called a “crime.”
Blackburn and other prominent Tennessee Republicans later spoke at an anti-trans rally in Nashville that saw the attendance of dozens of Proud Boys, a far-right group that took part in the Jan. 6 attack.
While Trump has spent years stoking fears and distrust of the American news media, he has pushed his own lies to friendly media sources and on the campaign trail. This continued in the hours before his historic election, when he posted on his social media platform about “massive CHEATING in Philadelphia," a claim that was immediately refuted by Pennsylvania officials (some of whom are fellow Republicans). Trump ultimately won all of Pennsylvania's 19 electoral college votes.
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Two days before Election Day, the Trump campaign defended his statement that in order for a would-be assassin “to get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news — and I don't mind that so much.”
Trump has been the target of multiple assassination attempts, and last week newly unsealed federal court documents reveal that the FBI foiled an alleged assassination attempt by Iranian operatives. That same plot also targeted an Iranian-American journalist.
Trump has called for the jailing of journalists who published a leaked 2022 U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion of the overturning of Roe v. Wade. It is not a crime for journalists to publish such leaked information.
President-Elect Trump has long railed against what he deemed the “fake news,” a term that has become commonplace in Republican circles. Blackburn has also routinely used the phrase.
This article was first published by our sister publication, the Williamson Scene.
