Trump stenographer Susan Jones does her Trump stenography thing in a July 25 CNSNews.com article:
“The Amazon Washington Post fabricated the facts on my ending massive, dangerous, and wasteful payments to Syrian rebels fighting Assad…..” President Trump tweeted Monday night.
Then came two more tweets:
— “So many stories about me in the @washingtonpost are Fake News. They are as bad as ratings challenged @CNN. Lobbyist for Amazon and taxes?”
— “Is Fake News Washington Post being used as a lobbyist weapon against Congress to keep Politicians from looking into Amazon no-tax monopoly?”
[…]This is not the first time Trump has bashed the “Amazon Washington Post,” the newspaper purchased by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in 2013.
On June 23, Trump tweeted: “The #AmazonWashingtonPost, sometimes referred to as the guardian of Amazon not paying internet taxes (which they should) is FAKE NEWS!”
Trump’s criticism of Amazon dates back to the campaign. On Dec. 7, 2015, when he was running for president, Trump tweeted: “The @washingtonpost, which loses a fortune, is owned by @JeffBezos for purposes of keeping taxes down at his no profit company, @amazon.”
But it’s not until the very last paragraph of her article that Jones makes a surprising admission: “And for the record, Amazon.com states on its website that it does collect sales tax on items sold by it or its subsidiaries nationwide, except in the five states that do not levy sales taxes.”
That’s right — Trump’s attacks on Amazon and taxes are false. Shouldn’t that have been the lead of Jones’ article? “Trump falsely attacks Amazon over taxes” is far more newsworthy than “Trump tweets again,” according to any standard of journalistic news judgment.
But not if you’re a loyal Trump stenographer like Jones, apparently.