Historian warns of ‘authoritarianism’ over AP’s feud with Trump
Historian Heather Cox Richardson warned journalist Katie Couric during a Thursday podcast that if The Associated Press (AP) refers to the Gulf of America by its new name, it could be a significant step toward authoritarianism.
President Donald Trump’s administration first barred the AP from the Oval Office on Tuesday for continuing to call the Gulf of America the Gulf of Mexico, despite the president’s day one executive order to change its name. Couric, on her YouTube channel, asked Richardson for her response to the situation, with the historian immediately suggesting it “speaks … to the rise of authoritarians” and that AP must continue to refuse in order to stave off the potential tyranny.
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“That idea that reporters have to use the Gulf of America when it has been called the Gulf of Mexico since at least the 1550s is, I think, a way to say, ‘You’re in my reality now, and you have to bow to my reality,’” Richardson told Couric. “And it’s a terribly slippery slope because once you start to say, ‘Okay, I’ll let you get away with that,’ it’s harder the next time to say no. That’s a really important line to hold.”
AP senior vice president and executive director Julie Pace said Thursday that the Trump administration continuing to restrict the outlet’s access is a “deeply troubling escalation” and “a plain violation of the First Amendment” to the U.S. Constitution.
“We urge the Trump administration in the strongest terms to stop this practice,” she added. “This is now the third day AP reporters have been barred from covering the president — first as a member of the pool, and now from a formal press conference — an incredible disservice to the billions of people who rely on The Associated Press for nonpartisan news.”
However, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the Trump administration’s decision during a Wednesday briefing.
“I was very upfront in my briefing on day one that if we feel that there are lies being pushed by outlets in this room, we are going to hold those lies accountable. And it is a fact that the body of water off the coast of Louisiana is called the Gulf of America,” she said. “And I’m not sure why news outlets don’t want to call it that, but that is what it is. The Secretary of Interior has made that the official designation in the geographical identification name server.”
“And Apple has recognized that, Google has recognized that,” she continued. “Pretty much every other outlet in this room has recognized that body of water as the Gulf of America and it’s very important to this administration that we get that right, not just for people here at home but also for the rest of the world.”
CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings also defended the decision on Wednesday, accusing the AP of “not dealing in reality.”
“We have a lawful process in this country for changing the name of it, the president went through it with the Secretary of Interior [Doug Burgum] by the way … We also have the ability to change this body of water,” Jennings said. “I think, look, this smacks to me of a news organization looking for a way to pick a fight with Donald Trump over something that they don’t need to pick a fight over. He is the president and there is a lawful process that he went through to do it, so why won’t they just respect that?”
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