Imagine the outrage had this been President Trump.
New York City’s communist-loving mayor Bill de Blasio apparently didn’t appreciate being questioned by a credentialed reporter and had him hauled away by security for daring to do so.
New York Post reporter Kevin Sheehan, sporting a police-issued press pass around his neck, asked the mayor to comment on an article in which it was revealed that his administration had been frequently meeting with lobbyists.
Two bodyguards quickly removed Sheehan, one even grabbing him by the shoulder and leading him nearly a block away.
The incident occurred at the onset of the Dominican Day Parade in Manhattan.
Just hours after Bill de Blasio portrayed himself as a defender of the press to @brianstelter on CNN, he had his security physically remove a credentialed reporter who was covering him https://t.co/KkT93ufwN6
— Evan Siegfried (@evansiegfried) August 13, 2018
The bizarre attempt to muzzle the free press came just hours after de Blasio appeared on CNN and declared his love for a free press.
“I believe in a free, strong media with diverse views. I’ll defend it with all I’ve got,” he claimed.
There was a disclaimer to that, however. De Blasio does not believe in a free press when it comes to outlets that report negatively on him and his liberal colleagues, particularly News Corp., the media giant run by Rupert Murdoch and whose subsidiaries include Fox News and the New York Post. (RELATED: Fox CEO Murdoch Tried To Steer Network to ‘Anyone But Trump’).
“But we have to be able to call out when a particular company has a corporate agenda, has a political agenda, and has very effectively changed the American discourse,” the mayor added.
“I believe in a free, strong media with diverse views. I’ll defend it with all I’ve got”….except Fox News. They are evil and need to go away.
In the words of @BoDietl: Go away Big Bird.https://t.co/ypAMuP6l5n
— Avi Greenberger (@iamavig) August 12, 2018
The mayor recently claimed that it would be better if certain newsrooms – like News Corp. – didn’t exist. (RELATED: Bill De Blasio Attacks The Free Press).
“If you could remove News Corp from the last 25 years of American history, we would be in an entirely different place,” he said.
That is, most decidedly, a man that does not support the First Amendment of the Constitution.
In the past, de Blasio has claimed he has “no use for a right-wing rag” like the New York Post and preferred to call on “real media outlets.”
Woah. @yoavgonen trying to get question in but @BilldeBlasio blatantly ignoring. Yoav calls out. Mayor: “I am calling on real media outlets”
— Grace Rauh (@gracerauh) October 6, 2016
During an interview with CNN’s Brian Stelter, he defended those attacks, seemingly unaware that he had just claimed to be pro-press.
“Why do you feel it’s your role to be calling out a newspaper because you don’t like the content?” Stelter asked.
“Because I think it’s not happening enough … It’s not happening the way I think it should,” de Blasio responded in true dictatorial form.
Just last month, the mainstream media practically had a coronary when a journalist making a scene at the conference between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, was removed. (RELATED: Watch: Journalist Dragged out of Trump-Putin Press Conference).
Not long thereafter, CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins was barred from attending a public event the President appeared in. ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl responded by saying “Banning (Collins) for asking legitimate questions is thuggish and contrary to the spirit of the First Amendment.”
Will de Blasio be the recipient of an equal level of disdain for his actions? Is he not being ‘thuggish and contrary to the spirit of the First Amendment?’
