The President's Dismissal regarding Khashoggi Killing Represents a New Low.
“Things happen.” Just two words. That’s all it took for the US president to effectively dismiss what is probably the most notorious journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward the press, for journalism – and for the truth.
The Context
The US president’s dismissal of the murder of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the CIA concluded in a recent assessment had ordered the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)
The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to determine the murder – which took place in the Saudi diplomatic building in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old journalist was drugged and cut apart – was approved at the highest levels. An investigation led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.
International Response
For a brief period, governments were unified in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States imposed penalties and travel restrictions in that year over the killing, although it refrained of sanctioning the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the final confirmation of that redemption.
Presidential Comments
Opponents of the regime had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was on display at the White House was worse than could have been anticipated. Not only did Trump fete Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter the facts – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. The crown prince, Trump claimed when asked, was unaware about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own intelligence services determined four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, things happen.”
Pattern of Behavior
This represents a new and abject low for a president who has made little secret of his contempt for the facts – or for the media. He has smeared reporters (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the inquiry about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “false information”), scolded them in public (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against media organizations for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to be shut down.
He has forced veteran news services out of the official briefing group for declining to use terminology of his preference, and he has slashed financial support for essential public media at home and crucial free press internationally.
Wider Consequences
All of that has fostered an environment in which journalists are clearly more vulnerable in the US, but one in which their victimization – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but acceptable (“a lot of people disliked that gentleman”).
It is no surprise that that year was the most lethal year on record for journalists in the more than 30 years the press freedom organization has been documenting this data: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those accountable for reporter murders has established a culture of impunity in which those who murder reporters are actually able to get away with murder and so persist in these actions.
In no place is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is responsible for the killing of more than 200 media workers in the past two years.
Effect on Society
The impact on the public is profound. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our rights to know and on our liberty to live freely and safely.
On Thursday, CPJ meets for its annual International Press Freedom awards. The statement there is the identical as my one for the president: these things may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.
